The Heaven Sword is a Taiwania cryptomerioides, the last remaining species from a genus of cypress that has been around for 100 million years. The species is mainly found in mountainous regions of Taiwan with a few small pockets in China, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Australian photographer Steven Pearce, who specialises in photographing the world’s tallest trees, described it as "like a coral reef that's got life on top of life on top of life”.
Scientists located the tree fairly recently — from the air — using a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technique that is able to measure many trees at once. At over 84 metres it is Taiwan’s tallest tree and estimated to be over 1000 years old.
Ecologists believe more needs to be done to protect trees around the world. Large trees create their own mini-ecosystems and can often store as much carbon as a whole stand of mid-sized trees in forest ecosystems.
The future of tall trees globally is uncertain but we would not even know what we are losing if not for the scientists, photographers and tree-loving volunteers stepping out to find them.