The tallest tree in Europe is an Australian, and it grows in a small forest a quarter of an hour's walk from a car park outside Coimbra.
Karri
Eucalyptus diversicolor
Europe's tallest tree is a karri, growing in a small national forest outside Coimbra, a long way from the far southwest corner of Western Australia where Eucalyptus diversicolor comes from. We map 3 of them, in 2 cities.
Portugal's register measured it at 72.9 metres in 2015, a laser gave 73 in 2017, and an independent project reports just over 75. A local story says it was planted in 1873. At home the species was put to work. Around Pemberton the forestry service drove spiral pegs into karri trunks so spotters could climb above the canopy and see smoke early. The Gloucester Tree was chosen in 1947, and a Gallipoli veteran took six hours over its first climb. The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree nearby was pegged in 1988 for the Bicentenary and never watched for a fire at all. Sources put the Gloucester Tree at 250 years at least; nobody has dated the other.
Coimbra
Pemberton
A prince helped drill the holes.
Photo: David La Rosa (CC BY-SA 4.0)
This is a lookout tree that never looked out for a fire.
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