[paul.fr]

Do tree's have a maximun height, and once they reach it stop growing? Or do they continue to grow but at a relatively small rate?

[Karen W.]

Thats a good question, I will have to see what I can find out!

[another_someone]

I would imagine there must be a limit (life expectancy aside) simply because they need to push nutrients up from the soil, and there must be a limit to how high they can push those nutrients (against the force of gravity) before their upper reaches start to become starved of nutrients and are no longer able to grow.

[neilep]

As a firm believer in empirical study I have just planted an acorn.
I'll get back to ewe !  []

[Karen W.]

LOL!

[WylieE]

Trees do stop growing taller, but not wider- just like humans.
  The real limiting issue is the ability of trees to get water up to the top leaves (as another_someone was saying).  I think there is already a thread here somewhere on transpiration.  But the point is that at some height the tree can't keep water going from the ground to the upper tips (that they can do it as far as they can is an amazing feat).  The really, really big trees, the sequoias & eucalyptus, are dependent on the fog and humidity in their environment to be able to grow as large as they do.  There's a lot of debate about if they actually take in fog through their leaves or it just allows them to lose less water, but either way the thought is without the fog they wouldn't reach the size they do.