Sydney - Australia claimed Saturday that a 101-metre giant swamp gum found last week just 4 kilometres from a popular Tasmanian tourist attraction is the world's tallest hardwood tree, tallest eucalypt and its tallest flowering tree.

The 400-year-old whopper is only a few metres shorter than the world-record 115-metre redwood in California's Redwood National Park.

"It's hard to believe they've been here so long without us even knowing they are here," Forestry Tasmania resource information manager David Mannes told the Hobart Mercury newspaper. "Considering the other tall trees around the state, this one's in very good condition."

Mannes found the lofty swamp gum, dubbed Centurion because it tops 100 metres, near the Tahune Airwalk tourist attraction at Geeveston, 80 kilometres south of Hobart. (dpa)