Asklemmy

That article is unfortunately devoid of the information we need.

I however managed to find the Nature article that it appears to be based on.

https://annas-archive.pk/scidb/10.1038/nature02417/

Trees do face limits on their height due to the limits of the lengths capillary forces can draw water up through their cells. However, the figure quoted is from a regression analysis of living trees. It's not a prediction of how tall trees could evolve if certain environmental stresses were removed. It's a prediction of the maximum height achievable by California Redwoods.

From the paper:

At reserves further north and closer to the coast, stronger storms may explain the lower heights (,100 m), yet similar relationships of water potential and d13 C to height 27 as we observed in the tallest redwoods. At the drier inland margin of redwood’s natural distribution in northern California, maximum tree height is lower (,80 m), yet treetop values of minimum water potential (21.9 MPa) and maximum d13 C (222‰) are similar to those at 110 m in the tallest redwoods. Thus a similar physiological ceiling may be reached at different physical heights depending on water availability, with storm damage reducing realized heights at sites that are otherwise optimal

So note that even though the trees on the coast have moisture conditions, they still reach lower heights than those further inland.

The key thing to keep in mind is that the current maximum height achievable by living tree species is not the maximum height of trees allowable by physics. For example, instead of relying only on osmotic pressure, trees might evolve a staged-lift system, where they have upper reservoirs that feed one into the next. This is how tall skyscrapers handle their plumbing systems. A hundred story building will have water tanks at different levels rather than just one big tank on the roof. This prevents the need to have pipes at the base of the skyscraper capable of surviving 100 stories worth of water pressure.

There's no need for trees on our planet to evolve such mechanisms. The limits for wind kick in at similar heights to the limits of the water transport mechanisms trees have evolved. But other mechanisms would have different limits. There just isn't any evolutionary pressure to develop them.

Although, the paper does make being a tree scientist sound like an amazing job.

We accessed tree crowns by shooting arrows trailing filament over branches with a powerful bow. Rope was then hauled over the branches and climbed via mechanical ascenders. Access to the treetop was achieved by arborist-style techniques. Heights were measured by lowering weighted fibreglass measuring tapes from the treetop to average ground level.