Cal Poly Professor, Students Confirm Status of Largest Eucalyptus Tree
In the far reaches of Northern California stands a sprawling blue gum eucalyptus tree that, over the summer, was confirmed as the largest tree of its kind outside of Australia by a team of Cal Poly-led researchers.
Matt Ritter, a biological sciences professor, along with a group of Cal Poly students, confirmed the tree’s impressive 141-feet-tall stature and its nearly 50-foot circumference.
A video posted by Matt Ritter (@slowplants) on Jul 11, 2015 at 10:36pm PDT
“You can hear about measurements of things, but nothing really prepares you for how big things actually are,” said Ritter, who also serves as the California state coordinator for the American Forest Big Tree Registry, which tracks the biggest trees in all 50 states.
Ritter and the team spent two weeks traversing the state in search of other awe-inspiring trees as part of an endeavor funded by Cal Fire to verify the measurements of champion trees currently recorded in the state.
“We saw some amazing things and made some amazing discoveries,” Ritter said.
The team also documented the trip on social media using the hashtag “cabigtreetour,” which included aerial drone footage of one of the champion trees.
“This is a life changing experience for the students who went on this trip. They got to meet foresters from all over the world and see how fired up people are about organisms and make new discoveries in California,” Ritter said. “California is still botanically a discovery frontier and we were able to show that this summer.”
A photo posted by Matt Ritter (@slowplants) on Aug 1, 2015 at 8:24am PDT
