World’s largest plant discovered right under our noses in Western Australia
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-06-01/worlds-largest-plant-seagrass-meadow-shark-bay-giant-clone/101112726

sarahs mum said:

World’s largest plant discovered right under our noses in Western Australia
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-06-01/worlds-largest-plant-seagrass-meadow-shark-bay-giant-clone/101112726

It’s pretty amazing

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

This one?..

Welwitschia – “two leaves that cannot die”

i seem to recall them finding something bigger than the fungus in oregon,

There are quite a few plants that reproduce from a rhizome, often producing only a few flowers. They are thought to have evolved into a cul-de-sac because if their habitat changes, they will most likely die out. Those that do produce a few flowers to enable the introduction of new genes, which as a safeguard may allow the plant to move further afield and adapt to other environments to aid their long-term survival, but still only a slim chance of success. Bracken is quite a good example of this as fronds often do not produce fertile spores, but the plant aggressively expands via the underground rhizome to occupy all suitable habitat.

beautiful, lets all go up there and attar to trample in it and make sure we get amazing insta shots by lying amongst it (fully sunscreen of course – gotta protect our skin).. also I’m pretty sure I can bring some home to grow

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

Yes. A mallee. As all mallee do they are spreading clumps.
There was also a very large pine tree clup in Tasmania which was estimated to have been the same size 10,500 years previously and continuously to the present day. So how old is it/.

sarahs mum said:

i seem to recall them finding something bigger than the fungus in oregon,

The humungous fungus?

roughbarked said:

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

Yes. A mallee. As all mallee do they are spreading clumps.
There was also a very large pine tree clup in Tasmania which was estimated to have been the same size 10,500 years previously and continuously to the present day. So how old is it/.

the huon pine clump was lots of clone from where the tree was falling down th hill and regenning. it got burned out a couple of years ago I believe.

i thinkthe other largests were fungus.

sarahs mum said:

roughbarked said:

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

Yes. A mallee. As all mallee do they are spreading clumps.
There was also a very large pine tree clup in Tasmania which was estimated to have been the same size 10,500 years previously and continuously to the present day. So how old is it/.

the huon pine clump was lots of clone from where the tree was falling down th hill and regenning. it got burned out a couple of years ago I believe.

Sad.

sarahs mum said:

i thinkthe other largests were fungus.

Yes, mostly but we have neglected to realise the full age and extent of most of the trees we knocked down and ripped up. Remembering that the forests and the fungi live in harmony.

roughbarked said:

sarahs mum said:

roughbarked said:

Yes. A mallee. As all mallee do they are spreading clumps.
There was also a very large pine tree clup in Tasmania which was estimated to have been the same size 10,500 years previously and continuously to the present day. So how old is it/.

the huon pine clump was lots of clone from where the tree was falling down th hill and regenning. it got burned out a couple of years ago I believe.

Sad.

they did find a new stand lately. not sure of the age.

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

And I’ve got in the back of my mind that the mycelium of some fungi can cover really amazing areas of ground. I think I read about it for Agaricus xanthodermus – yellow stainer mushrooms and wondered if all the ones around our botanic gardens of several acres might in fact be one plant. (Yes, I know they are talking about hundreds of km for the seagrass)

buffy said:

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

And I’ve got in the back of my mind that the mycelium of some fungi can cover really amazing areas of ground. I think I read about it for Agaricus xanthodermus – yellow stainer mushrooms and wondered if all the ones around our botanic gardens of several acres might in fact be one plant. (Yes, I know they are talking about hundreds of km for the seagrass)

Mycelium is the fungus. The mushroooms as you know, are only the fruiting bodies.
The humongous fungus occupies some 2,384 acres (965 hectares) of soil in Oregon’s Blue Mountains. Put another way, this humongous fungus would encompass 1,665 football fields, or nearly four square miles (10 square kilometers) of turf.

https://www.pressreader.com/australia/australian-geographic/20170501/281878708268050

Old­est con­tin­u­ously liv­ing things in Aus­tralia
The av­er­age hu­man life span of 82 years is a mere blip in time com­pared with th­ese long-lived en­ti­ties.
Ecology
Australia

1 May 2017BY ELLEN RYKERS

Stro­ma­to­lites at Shark Bay, WA.

FROM AN­CIENT trees to prim­i­tive cyanobac­te­ria, Aus­tralia’s landscapes and seascapes are home to some ex­cep­tion­ally old liv­ing things. There’s some­thing about long-lived be­ings that sur­prises, delights and hum­bles us. Per­haps it’s the count­less per­ils they have en­dured or the stu­pen­dous sto­ries they would tell (if they could talk). Or per­haps it’s sim­ply that they il­lu­mi­nate a slower way of ex­is­tence. Our list of ‘old­est con­tin­u­ously liv­ing things’ in­cludes both in­di­vid­u­als and clone clus­ters – ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal plant colonies de­scended from a sin­gle con­tin­u­ously liv­ing or­gan­ism.

1 ORANGE ROUGHY Ho­plostethus at­lanti­cus 140 years

Th­ese deep-wa­ter dwellers, which spawn around seamounts off south­ern Aus­tralia, are among the world’s long­est-liv­ing fish. Their ear bones sug­gest they can live for more than a cen­tury, dur­ing which they can reach the size of an av­er­age new­born hu­man. Like many cold-wa­ter species, orange roughy are slow-grow­ing, not reach­ing ma­tu­rity un­til 20–40 years of age, mak­ing them par­tic­u­larly vul­ner­a­ble to over-fish­ing.

2 THE GRANDIS Eu­ca­lyp­tus grandis, 400 years

An ex­cep­tional flooded gum spec­i­men, nick­named The Grandis, tow­ers above the lush for­est of Myall Lakes Na­tional Park, north of New­cas­tle in NSW. Tilt your head to ad­mire the tree’s crown, where hol­low branches pro­vide pent­house homes for birds and ar­bo­real mam­mals. It’s not only old but also the tallest known tree in the state. The Grandis im­presses with its su­perla­tive di­men­sions – an 11.5m cir­cum­fer­ence at its base and height of more than 75m.

3 THE KAURI TWINS 3 Agathis mi­crostachya, 900 years

Ris­ing from the shores of Lake Bar­rine in Crater Lakes Na­tional Park, Queens­land, are th­ese two gi­ant rain­for­est pines, Aus­tralia’s largest conifers, which have oc­cu­pied this lake­side spot for al­most a mil­len­nium. Over that time, they’ve grown from seedlings to their present-day 50m height and 6m girth. Kau­ris once dom­i­nated Queens­land’s an­cient rain­forests, but this species is now re­stricted to the Ather­ton Table­land. To­day’s kau­ris ap­pear vir­tu­ally un­changed when com­pared with 300mil­lion-year-old kauri fos­sil spec­i­mens.

Ris­ing from the shores of Lake Bar­rine in Crater Lakes Na­tional Park, Queens­land, are th­ese two gi­ant rain­for­est pines, Aus­tralia’s largest conifers, which have oc­cu­pied this lake­side spot for al­most a mil­len­nium. Over that time, they’ve grown from seedlings to their present-day 50m height and 6m girth. Kau­ris once dom­i­nated Queens­land’s an­cient rain­forests, but this species is now re­stricted to the Ather­ton Table­land. To­day’s kau­ris ap­pear vir­tu­ally un­changed when com­pared with 300mil­lion-year-old kauri fos­sil spec­i­mens.

4 BOAB PRISON TREES 4 Adan­so­nia gre­gorii 500–2000 years

The bar­rel-like trunks of boabs, icons of the Kim­ber­ley, be­come hol­low with age and at least two are re­puted to have served as short-term pris­ons. One, near Derby, is thought to be 500 years old, and, de­spite its roomy 15m girth, has prob­a­bly never been used as a lockup. But the Wyn­d­ham prison boab, es­ti­mated to be 1500 years old, was known as the Hill­grove Lockup. In the 1890s Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple were re­port­edly im­pris­oned in the tree – or chained out­side – on their way to sen­tenc­ing in the nearby town.

The bar­rel-like trunks of boabs, icons of the Kim­ber­ley, be­come hol­low with age and at least two are re­puted to have served as short-term pris­ons. One, near Derby, is thought to be 500 years old, and, de­spite its roomy 15m girth, has prob­a­bly never been used as a lockup. But the Wyn­d­ham prison boab, es­ti­mated to be 1500 years old, was known as the Hill­grove Lockup. In the 1890s Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple were re­port­edly im­pris­oned in the tree – or chained out­side – on their way to sen­tenc­ing in the nearby town.

The bar­rel-like trunks of boabs, icons of the Kim­ber­ley, be­come hol­low with age and at least two are re­puted to have served as short-term pris­ons. One, near Derby, is thought to be 500 years old, and, de­spite its roomy 15m girth, has prob­a­bly never been used as a lockup. But the Wyn­d­ham prison boab, es­ti­mated to be 1500 years old, was known as the Hill­grove Lockup. In the 1890s Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple were re­port­edly im­pris­oned in the tree – or chained out­side – on their way to sen­tenc­ing in the nearby town.

5 STRO­MA­TO­LITES Cyanobac­te­ria, 1000+ years

Th­ese cow­pat-like lumps are por­tals through time. Stro­ma­to­lites are built up, layer upon layer, over mil­len­nia by tiny cyanobac­te­ria – micro­organ­isms that were among Earth’s ear­li­est life forms, dat­ing to 3.5 bil­lion years ago. Un­til 1961, we only knew of stro­ma­to­lites from an­cient fos­sils. A few colonies have now been found across WA, but the most famed at Shark Bay (see op­po­site) is thought to be as old as 1250 years.

6 MEELUP MALLEE 6 Eu­ca­lyp­tus phy­lacis, 6600 years

The Meelup mallee is known from a sin­gle ridge­line south of Perth. There 27 ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal shrubby trees – each up to 5m tall and to­gether com­pris­ing a sin­gle clone – clus­ter across an area smaller than a rugby field. Ex­perts be­lieve this clone, which re­sprouts af­ter fire, may be 6600 years old. This pop­u­la­tion once had more Meelup mallees, but a scenic look­out was built in the mid­dle of their range, de­stroy­ing an un­known num­ber. When the mallee’s sig­nif­i­cance was re­alised, the look­out was re­moved.

The Meelup mallee is known from a sin­gle ridge­line south of Perth. There 27 ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal shrubby trees – each up to 5m tall and to­gether com­pris­ing a sin­gle clone – clus­ter across an area smaller than a rugby field. Ex­perts be­lieve this clone, which re­sprouts af­ter fire, may be 6600 years old. This pop­u­la­tion once had more Meelup mallees, but a scenic look­out was built in the mid­dle of their range, de­stroy­ing an un­known num­ber. When the mallee’s sig­nif­i­cance was re­alised, the look­out was re­moved.

7 HOUN PINES (left) 7 La­garostro­bos franklinii 10,000 years

7 HOUN PINES (left) 7 La­garostro­bos franklinii 10,000 years

Huon pines are en­demic to Tas­ma­nia’s damp forests. On the north­ern edge of the West Coast Range, a strange stand of th­ese trees decks the slopes of Mt Read. All are male and ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal. Liv­ing in­di­vid­u­als may be older than 1500 years and likely to have de­scended from a sin­gle an­ces­tor that’s been prop­a­gat­ing veg­e­ta­tively for mil­len­nia. An­cient pollen sam­ples sug­gest this clonal or­gan­ism has been con­tin­u­ously in­hab­it­ing Mt Read for at least 10,000 years.

8 ANTARC­TIC BEECH 8 Lopho­zo­nia moorei 2000–12,000 years

Gond­wana relics, Antarc­tic beech soar above the cool table­lands of north­ern NSW and south­ern Queens­land, in World Her­itage-listed rain­for­est. Th­ese an­cient trees can reach 40m high – but their life­span is even more im­pres­sive. Spec­i­mens more than 2000 years old line walk­ing tracks in Spring­brook Na­tional Park. In Lam­ing­ton NP, con­tem­po­rary artist Rachel Suss­man tracked down a 6000-year-old tree and a 12,000-year-old clonal stand.

Gond­wana relics, Antarc­tic beech soar above the cool table­lands of north­ern NSW and south­ern Queens­land, in World Her­itage-listed rain­for­est. Th­ese an­cient trees can reach 40m high – but their life­span is even more im­pres­sive. Spec­i­mens more than 2000 years old line walk­ing tracks in Spring­brook Na­tional Park. In Lam­ing­ton NP, con­tem­po­rary artist Rachel Suss­man tracked down a 6000-year-old tree and a 12,000-year-old clonal stand.

9 MONGARLOWE MALLEE Eu­ca­lyp­tus re­curva 3000–13,000 years

Also known as the ‘ice age gums’, th­ese in­cred­i­bly rare eu­ca­lypt shrubs lit­er­ally fall short of the tow­er­ing trees on this list when it comes to stature. But one of th­ese un­der­stated bushes may be an as­tound­ing 13,000 years old and an­other per­haps 3000 years old. The species is also one of Aus­tralia’s rarest eu­ca­lypts. There are a grand to­tal of five Mongarlowe mallee shrubs grow­ing across four dis­tinct sites on the NSW South­ern Table­lands.

Also known as the ‘ice age gums’, th­ese in­cred­i­bly rare eu­ca­lypt shrubs lit­er­ally fall short of the tow­er­ing trees on this list when it comes to stature. But one of th­ese un­der­stated bushes may be an as­tound­ing 13,000 years old and an­other per­haps 3000 years old. The species is also one of Aus­tralia’s rarest eu­ca­lypts. There are a grand to­tal of five Mongarlowe mallee shrubs grow­ing across four dis­tinct sites on the NSW South­ern Table­lands.

10 G’S LOMATIA Lomatia tas­man­ica, 43,600 years

In a re­mote pocket of south-western Tas­ma­nia, about 500 sep­a­rate King’s lomatia plants grow. All, how­ever, are clonal, have three sets of chro­mo­somes and are ster­ile. They re­pro­duce veg­e­ta­tively: when a branch drops, it grows roots and be­comes an in­di­vid­ual (but ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal) spec­i­men. Fos­silised leaf frag­ments found nearby have been dated to 43,600 years ago, and sci­en­tists be­lieve th­ese are ge­net­i­cally iden­ti­cal to modern spec­i­mens. This sug­gests King’s lomatia may have been con­tin­u­ously grow­ing since the Stone Age.

The size of the Shark Bay ribbon weed is about 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres) – making it much larger than a stand of quaking Aspen trees in Utah, often referred to as the world’s largest plant, covering 43 hectares.
—-

quaking aspen. that’s right.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/01/what-the-hell-australian-scientists-discover-biggest-plant-on-earth-off-wa-coast

tre’ cool!

roughbarked said:

Boris said:

was there not another “largest plant” found over here a few years ago? some tree i believe that spread over a vast area and which was all genetically the same?

Yes. A mallee. As all mallee do they are spreading clumps.
There was also a very large pine tree clup in Tasmania which was estimated to have been the same size 10,500 years previously and continuously to the present day. So how old is it/.

Oh, so not a bamboo then. There was a time many years ago when a particular bamboo was counted the world’s largest plant.