Like the 370-foot Giant, the three trees are coast redwoods. They were discovered this past summer in Redwood National Park near Eureka by a team of California researchers who spend most of their free time bushwhacking through North Coast forests in search of taller and taller trees.

So far, the group has found about 135 redwoods that reach higher than 350 feet, said team member Chris Atkins, the man credited with finding the Stratosphere Giant in August 2000 in nearby Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

The tallest of the three new finds, a redwood named Hyperion, measures 378 feet. Next in line, Helios stands at 376 feet; Icarus, the third, reaches 371 feet.

Atkins and Taylor discovered Helios and Icarus on July 1, and Hyperion on Aug. 25. They took initial measurements with handheld lasers.

Atkins said Hyperion soon will be measured again with a tripod laser or with a ?EUR??,,????'??tape drop?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+in which someone climbs the tree and drops a measuring tape to the ground?EUR??,,????'??+before its record-breaking status is confirmed.

If and when the measurement on Hyperion is confirmed, it is likely to supplant the Stratosphere Giant in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Atkins confirmed all three of the trees are adjacent to creeks or springs. ?EUR??,,????'??Even though they?EUR??,,????'???re on steep slopes, they?EUR??,,????'???re growing in the finest redwood habitat on the planet,?EUR??,,????'?? Atkins said. ?EUR??,,????'??They?EUR??,,????'???re right below a ridge, so they?EUR??,,????'???re protected from the wind.?EUR??,,????'??

Source: San Francisco Chronicle