Africa’s tallest tree measuring 81m found on Mount Kilimanjaro
DAILY NEWS 24 November 2016 Africa’s tallest tree measuring 81m found on Mount Kilimanjaro Reaching for the skies Andreas Hemp By Agata Blaszczak-Boxe It’s definitely a contender. Africa’s tallest indigenous tree – measuring a whopping 81.5 metres has been discovered in a remote valley on the continent’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. The colossus in Tanzania has matched Africa’s previous tree-height record established by a specimen of the introduced Sydney blue gum ( Eucalyptus saligna ) in Limpopo, South Africa, which died in 2006. Andreas Hemp at the University of Bayreuth in Germany first spotted a bunch of tall Entandrophragma excelsum trees while exploring Mount Kilimanjaro’s vegetation 20 years ago. But it was not until recently that he and his team were able to measure their heights accurately using new tools. They sized 32 specimens with laser instruments between 2012 and 2016, finding that the 10 tallest individuals r...