I actually don’t know where the Island’s tallest tree is, and that surprises me a bit. We’re quite keen on Vectis exceptionalism around here.

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You would have thought that at some point somebody would at least have claimed to have the tallest tree on the Isle of Wight, even if they couldn’t prove it.

It would be a chance to sell postcards and t-shirts, and maybe erect a sign as you enter the village saying “Roud: home of the Isle of Wight’s tallest tree”, or wherever.

None of that has happened, so I hope that we can nominate a few candidates.

And although I can’t say where it is, I’ll explain why I am confident of what it is and roughly how tall and how old: I predict the tree will be a giant sequoia, often called Wellingtonia.

These magnificent North American imports can outgrow our native British trees, reaching more than 90 metres (300 feet) in height when fully grown.

The trunk can be up to seven metres (23 feet) in diameter, making these trees the most massive trees on earth.

On the Island, there are a few around, and my guess is one of those will turn out to be the tallest.

But it won’t have grown as tall as Big Ben — which is also about 90m high — or at least not yet.

The tallest tree in England is believed to be one of a pair of Wellingtonia planted just across the water in Rhinefield, in the New Forest.

Allegedly it is possible to see the Island from the top, which is some 53m (175 feet) from the ground.

This giant was one of the very first Wellingtonia in England, planted around 1859. That makes it about 160 years old, and with the oldest known Wellingtonia in California still going strong at 3,200 years old it can be seen that this is a mere stripling.

No Wellingtonia on the Island is going to be older than the Rhinefield trees, so we can assume that it will be somewhat smaller.

The trees grow fast in Britain, where the climate is not dissimilar to their Californian home; and growth rate in young specimens is estimated to be a foot (30cm) per year.

The species was first grown in Britain in 1853 by the Scottish horticulturist Patrick Matthew, so no Wellingtonia in Britain could be more than 167 years old and around 50m (165 feet) tall: perhaps explaining why the Rhinefield specimens, as some of the oldest in the country, are also the tallest.

So assuming the oldest Wellingtonia on the Island were planted in mid-Victorian times, to find our Island champion we should be looking for something that is between 40-50m tall and maybe 150 years old.

Send me your nominations — I want to see if I am right!