Discovered in 2006, why is the name of the tallest tree in the world called by the Greek name ‘Hyperion’?

In Greek mythology, ‘Hyperion’ is one of the twelve Titans, brother of ‘Kronos’ and ‘Rhea’ and father of ‘Helios’. They are each children of Earth and Sky. The word in Greek translates in English to mean ‘the high one’. So, as of 2006, the tallest tree in the world, is so named.

Standing at a staggering 380.81+ feet (116.07+ m), this majestic redwood tree towers and shot through the canopy of the forest. Hyperion is part of the Redwood National Park in the state of California in the United States. The exact location is along Tom McDonald Creek (also known as Fog Creek), in the grove now called Hyperion Valley at a Global Positioning System (GPS) Latitude of 41.20491 and a GPS Longitude of -124.01556.

Found by two naturalists hiking the area, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, they determined through some spot math, that Hyperion was taller than the tallest known tree at the time, by almost 10 feet. Their discovery occurred on August 26, 2006.

Subsequently, a team of ecologists confirmed their finding and instead of a complex math calculation, they sent Steve Sillet, an ecologist at Humboldt State University to the top and measured the tree with a measuring tape. They were able to also determine that the age of the tree was 914 years old.

By comparison, Hyperion is taller than the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben. Declared a World Heritage Site, the park is also an International Biosphere Reserve that protects nearly half of the world’s old growth redwoods.