People have always shown interest in everything. It is not for nothing that each country has its own book of records. But most of all, humanity was amazed by the wonders of nature. They will be discussed below. First, let's learn about the tallest tree in the world.
General information
In this category, the absolute champion is the sequoia, whose height can reach 100 m. The birthplace of this tree is the Pacific coast North America. You can see it not only in national parks, but also in some American and Canadian cities. So in Portland, redwood trees grow right on the streets. Sequoias are famous not only for their height, but also for their age. Some of them are 3 thousand years old. Sequoia is easily distinguished by its conical crown and cones. It also has a very thick bark, 30 cm wide. This giant can most often be found near the seashore or in wet gorges.
Numbers
The most tall sequoia, known as Hyperion, grows in California in the Redwood National Park. The height of this tree is 115.8 m, and the diameter of the trunk is 5 m. The previous record holder was Helios, whose height reached 114.58 m. This tree is located in the same “Redwood”, which is no less interesting than. True, it occupied the palm for only a few months. Scientists keep the exact location of Hyperion secret so that tourists cannot destroy the local ecosystem.
Interesting fact. In the past, many trees were much taller. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, a 155 m high eucalyptus was discovered.
The oldest tree in the world
General information. Trees are among the longest-living organisms on the planet. There are at least 50 trees in the world that are over a thousand years old. The secret of their longevity is the peculiarities of the vascular system, which allows one part of the tree to die while the other continues to live. The real record holders for age among trees are pine trees. At 3000 years old they grow just as actively as at 100 years old. Unlike animals, they do not accumulate genetic mutations.
In addition to pine trees, there are also cypress trees among the long-livers. One of them grows in the city of Abarkuh, in Iran. Scientists say that it is already more than 4 thousand years old. And in Wales there is a yew tree, which, according to scientists, is 3 thousand years old. Can boast of age giant sequoia named General Sherman. Scientists believe that this tree is more than 2,700 years old.
Numbers
It's hard to believe, but the oldest tree is 9550 years old! This is Old Tjikko spruce, which grows in Sweden on Mount Fulu. Before oldest tree considered the Methuselah pine from the California National Forest. The named tree began its life in 2831 BC. It's hidden in Big Basin Bristlecone. It is surrounded by the same thousand-year-old pine trees. It is not for nothing that this place is called the Grove of the Ancients.
Interesting fact. How can plants survive the many climate changes that regularly occur on our planet? Scientists say that trees can, as it were, die for a while, and after a certain period of time give a new shoot.
The thickest tree in the world
General information. Baobabs are considered the widest trees on earth. They mainly grow in savannas tropical Africa, in Northern Australia and Madagascar. These trees can reach several tens of meters in diameter. Although their height rarely exceeds 25 m. The crown of such trees in diameter often exceeds 40 m. Baobabs bloom for several months a year. Their flowers are quite large (up to 20 cm) and very beautiful. They bloom in the evening, attracting bats. Baobab fruits are shaped somewhat like cucumbers. Mature baobabs often rot inside. According to one scientist, 30 people slept in the hollow of this tree. Sequoiadendrons or “ mammoth trees" Their diameter often exceeds 10 m. The above-mentioned sequoias are not far behind.
Numbers
The European chestnut from Sicily, which grew on Mount Etna, once competed for the title of the thickest tree. Its diameter was 20.4 m. Now this title is borne by a tree named Thule. It grows in the Mexican city of Santa Maria del Tule. The circumference of its trunk is 42 m, and its diameter is 14 m. Although at first glance it looks more like several trees fused together. It will take at least 30 people to hug this tree, and its shade can protect 500 people from the sun. Thule is 40 m high and weighs 636 tons. Legend has it that the tree was planted by an Aztec priest 1,400 years ago. It is part of the UNESCO heritage.
Interesting fact. During drought, baobabs use up their own supply of moisture, so they can decrease in volume. This most often happens in winter. The bark of the baobab tree produces a strong fiber used to make fishing nets and fabrics. In addition, medicines against asthma, dysentery and colds are created from the bark. And the leaves of this record holder are even eaten. A drink similar to lemonade is made from the pulp of the fruit, which is why the baobab tree is often called the lemonade tree. In Africa there is even a bar that was opened in the trunk of a baobab tree. It's worth going for this alone
The widest tree in the world is the Baobab or Adansonia digitata, a species of tree that grows primarily in the dry savannas of tropical Africa, Madagascar and Northern Australia. The tree itself is huge, but this concerns mainly the diameter of the trunk - it can reach a couple of tens of meters! However, the height rarely exceeds 25 m.
Since the baobab grows in arid places, during drought it begins to use up its own supply of moisture - not only sheds its leaves, but also decreases in volume! As a rule, this happens in winter. The rest of the time, Adansonia palmata lives its own life and even blooms for a couple of months a year - the flowers are very large (up to 20 cm in diameter) and at the same time very beautiful. They bloom in the evening, attracting the attention of the bats that pollinate them, then wither, acquire a putrid odor and disappear. After this, shaggy fruits appear, which in their shape somewhat resemble cucumbers. Inside them there is sourish pulp with black seeds.
Since the tree trunk is highly saturated with moisture, it is susceptible to fungal diseases. This is why adult baobabs often rot inside. Despite this feature, the plant itself is incredibly tenacious - even if it is cut down, it is capable of sprouting new roots.
As for life expectancy, scientists are still arguing about this. The fact is that baobabs do not have growth rings, so reliably calculating the age of the plant is very problematic. However, there are special analyzes that have shown that the age of a 4.5-meter tree (in diameter) is more than 5 thousand years, although some experts are sure that adansonia digitata does not live more than a thousand years.
Baobab is used by local people. So, from its bark you can get the strongest fiber, which is used in the manufacture of fabrics and fishing nets. Also, special medicines are created from the bark that help with diseases such as asthma, fever, dysentery, colds, and so on. The leaves are used as food - in some places they are used to make soup, in others they are fried, in others they are added to cold appetizers. The pulp of the fruit is very nutritious and rich in vitamins, although it tastes like ginger. And the dried pulp of the fruit is ground into powder and diluted with water - a drink similar to lemonade is obtained (it’s not for nothing that the baobab tree is sometimes called the lemonade tree).
Wide trees, however, can be found closer to “civilization.” Thus, in the Mexican city of Oaxaca, cypress grows, which local residents called El Arbol del Tule. Its height is 40 meters, trunk diameter is 11.62 m, trunk girth is 36.2 m. However, scientists believe that this is not one tree, but several fused together. Be that as it may, the cypress is a famous landmark of the city.
Today we present to your attention our research on the topic “What is the largest tree in the world.”
But what does “big” mean? High? Tolstoy? Old? After all, all these indicators are important, but there is no tree that would combine them all.
We will tell you about all the record holders among trees. Decide for yourself which of them is considered the largest.
10 Princely apple tree
A unique tree grows in Ukraine, in the city of Korolevets. This apple tree, which is about two centuries old, has an ability, unprecedented in trees of this species, to root branches that have descended to the ground.
After rooting, the branch shoots upward, and a new tree appears, which is actually the same organism. That's why unique tree called a colony apple tree.
The same organism has many root systems and trunks (and the mother trunk has already died) and occupies an area of about one hundred square meters. “Trees” (and, in fact, shoots) are covered with leaves and bloom every year, but only half of the apple tree bears fruit, while the other “rests,” and the next year they change.
The fruits are bittersweet. At the foot of the apple tree there is a gravestone of one of the Meshchersky princes, which is why the apple tree got its name.
One well-grown banyan tree is a whole forest, because the horizontal branches of the tree give off so-called aerial roots. As soon as they manage to touch the ground, they take root and begin to grow deeper, creating a real root system, and upward, growing a trunk, the branches of which are woven into the crown of the “twins” - other similar “children”.
From the point of view of scientists, since all the “babies” have the same DNA, they are one plant.
In India, near Calcutta, the Great Banyan grows, the crown of which covers an area of 1.4 hectares, and its age is 250 years.
The ficus tree has 3,000 trunks, but the main one died during the tsunami. However, often the largest tree in the world (by crown) is considered to be the Great Banyan tree, growing near the city of Bangalore: it is 400 years old, and the crown area is 1.2 hectares.
Both banyan trees belong to the species Ficus bengalensis; A banyan tree is a ficus that can produce aerial roots.
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8 Prometheus is one of the oldest trees in the world
In the middle of the last century, scientist D. Curry discovered a very old tree in the USA near Wheeler Peak, which later received the name Prometheus in honor of the hero ancient greek mythology. He suggested that the age of this tree is about 4 thousand years.
Technical capabilities at that time did not allow botanists to find out the age of a tree without cutting it down. Apparently, D. Curry was very unbearable, and he cut down amazing plant(it was a pine tree, by the way), and its trunk was cut into pieces and sent to various scientists so that they could determine the age of Prometheus more accurately.
According to scientists, the tree was more than 5 thousand years old. One can only wonder whether it was really necessary to destroy such a rarity.
7 Methuselah
Apparently, this is one of the oldest trees currently growing on the planet, and for a long time it was considered the oldest.
The oldest tree is almost 3 thousand years old, and the exact place where it grows is unknown. We can only say with certainty that a huge tree - the Methuselah pine - is located on the territory National Nature Reserve in California.
More accurate information is hiding in order to protect the pine tree from vandalism; there is not even a photo of the centenarian. One inevitably wonders: does a tree exist?
6 Old Tjikko
The world's oldest Christmas tree grows on the slope of Mount Fulu in Sweden. According to scientists, its age has far exceeded 9 thousand years!
It’s impossible to believe, but botanists believe that the tree could survive numerous natural disasters, which happened over 9 and a half millennia on our planet, if for a while it seemed to fall into lethargy.
Spruce had been studied before, but then it was not recognized as the oldest tree in the world, because the trunk was analyzed, but it was not the mother trunk, but one of the offspring. Now scientists have found out this quite accurately, having determined the age of the horse system, but it is precisely 9550 years!
The unique tree is still growing little by little, although just half a century ago the spruce “fell asleep” due to unfavorable condition environment.
5 One of the thickest trees in the world is the baobab
Baobabs are record holders for thickness. At the same time, they have very loose wood, adapted to accumulate large volumes of water and use it during drought. At such times, the baobab loses almost half of its volume.
It is convenient to make hollows and even entire rooms in soft wood. Thus, you can find completely unusual ways of using baobabs with a hollow middle (such damage often occurs in trees of this species and does not lead to the death of the plant): equipped as a bus station waiting room, a public restroom, a bar, and even a prison!
The diameter of the thickest known baobab was 9 meters, but even now it is not difficult to find individuals with extremely large trunks, which would require 30 people to stand in a round dance to cover!
A plant supposedly about 4 thousand years old, growing in Sicily, near Mount Etna, is not a tree, but five fused trees, which was confirmed by DNA analysis.
But it's still amazing biological organism, because the diameter of the resulting trunk is more than 20 meters, and a hundred horsemen can hide under its crown (an area of 64 sq.m.) (which explains its name).
Speaking about the largest trees on the planet, one cannot fail to mention the Thule tree, which is very old (according to some scientists, it is 2 thousand years old, others believe that it is three, and some even think that it is 6 thousand years old!), quite high ( forty meters), and the diameter of its trunk is about 14 meters!
It seems incredible that this is one tree, you might think that in front of us are several fused together, like the Hundred Horsemen of a chestnut tree, but DNA analysis confirmed: it is all one organism. This tree belongs to the cypress genus, and its biological species- Taxodium mexicanis.
It is located in Mexico, in a city called Santa Maria del Tule. About unique plant There are many legends, the Indians willingly tell them. Tree included as an object World Heritage UNESCO; Holidays are held in his honor every year.
2 Hyperion - the tallest sequoia in the world
Hyperion, a sequoia, which was noticed ten years ago in national park in USA. The height of this tree is 115 and a half m.
Now growth has stopped due to the fact that its top is damaged by woodpeckers. For this reason, scientists believe that Hyperion will soon yield the palm to its closest competitor, Helios. This is also a sequoia in the same park, but it is still a little more than a meter lower than Hyperion. However, Helios is growing, but the current record holder is not.
In the same time tallest tree is neither the oldest (its age hardly exceeds 900 years), nor the thickest and heaviest, so it is considered the most big tree It’s still not possible on the planet.
1 General Sherman
Introducing the General Sherman, a tree that is now considered the largest on Earth. Its height, however, is somewhat lower than that of Hyperion (and Helios too), - 83.8 m, and its diameter is less than that of Thule - 11 and a bit meters, but in terms of volume and mass, General Sherman exceeds all other trees, so from this point of view he is a record holder.
The tree grows in the US Sequoia National Park and belongs to the sequoiadendron species.
See a photo of yourself big tree It’s possible, but the tree itself is not.
Scientists fear large influx tourists to the stunning sequoiadendron, which, in principle, could lead to damage to the tree as a result of vandalism or disruption of the ecosystem in which General Sherman is accustomed to being.
Description of baobab
His silhouette is simply incredible. A huge trunk, sometimes more than 50 meters in girth, ends in seemingly very small branches. The meaning of this evolution? The baobab tree, growing in arid regions, has learned to create reserves of water, which it stores as if in a wineskin. When there is heavy rainfall, the baobab trunk expands, and during prolonged drought, the tree “loses weight.” In Malgash, its name means “thousand-year-old tree”, but it can live 3 or 4 times longer!
The Legend of the Baobab
By the way, according to the legends of some African tribes, God was angry with the baobab and planted it with its roots facing up.
The thickest tree is the baobab.
Miracle tree
Baobab belongs to the genus Adansonia of the Malvaceae family (sometimes it is classified as a member of the Bombaxaceae family, since there are no clear distinctions between these families). This tree is found only in the arid savannas of tropical Africa, in areas covered with herbaceous vegetation with occasional trees and shrubs. And then, only those that have adapted to survive in the dry season (a year in African savannah consists of two periods - hot rainy and hot dry). The baobab acclimatized to local conditions in a rather unusual way: the moisture and nutrients that it absorbs like a huge sponge are helped by its wide trunk, often reaching ten meters in diameter (interesting fact: the most wide tree, described by botanists, had a width of 54.5 m - and at one time was listed in the Guinness Book of Records).
It should be noted that with such a thickness, its height is small and ranges from 18 to 25 meters, only 2-3 times greater than its width - such compactness makes it possible for the plant not to die under the burning sun rays. But the water in the tree is retained, not allowing it to evaporate, by the soft outside and strong inside bark, the thickness of which is 10 cm. Also, an important role in preserving moisture is played by the roots of the plant, which, spreading over the surface for more than tens of meters, collect all that is available to them. moisture. Interesting fact is that during the dry period, when the African baobab begins to use up its water supply, the plant decreases slightly in size and does this until the start of the rainy season, after which it begins to increase in volume again
Scientists agree that the thickest tree in the world is African baobab. Although its scientific name sounds somewhat strange and unusual - Adasonia digitata. The first part of the “name” perpetuates the name of the French naturalist Michel Adanson, who discovered and described this plant, and the second part - the shape of the leaves, reminiscent of outstretched fingers. So, it turns out, everything is natural and understandable.
Old-timers of the savannah
In addition to the fact that baobabs are listed first on the list of “fat people”, they also lay claim to the title of the oldest trees on the planet. It is very difficult to determine the exact age of a tree, since due to continuous growth it does not have annual rings in the section of the trunk. The range of data from different researchers may differ by several thousand years - from 1000 to 5000 thousand years. Impressive! The baobab grows only 2-3 cm per year, and one can only guess what kind of dinosaurs and how many these majestic giants of the savannah have seen in their lifetime.
Not only the baobab’s age records are impressive, but also its visual proportions. An adult tree, as a rule, grows no higher than 20-25 m, but in diameter it can reach up to 9 m. If you do a quick calculation of the cross-sectional area, you will get a whole dance floor measuring 60 sq.m. The largest dimensions recorded in the history of observations had a trunk with a girth of 54.5 m.
Tenacious but fragile
The ability of centuries-old giants to survive in arid conditions is largely explained by the structure of their root system. Thick, knotty roots literally bite into the ground, entangling it in an invisible underground web. Extending for several tens of meters, they absorb the slightest moisture encountered along the way, accumulating it in reserve.
A tree trunk is also a kind of living reservoir. The loose and porous structure of wood is capable of absorbing and retaining water for a long time, like a sponge. During the dry period, an interesting picture can be observed - the trunks of the baobab trees gradually lose weight, decreasing in volume due to loss of moisture. And if you hit it with your fist, a dent will form in this place. Powerful and strong fibers help to stay vertically above the ground, holding the softened “structure” in a stable position.
Surprisingly, even baobabs dumped on the ground calmly take root and continue to grow. You can also envy their fire resistance. Even burned and severely damaged bark is able to recover and heal the wounds caused by the fire. Giant trees behave unusually even after “death”. They simply crumble, leaving behind a pile of bark and fibers that gradually becomes level with the soil surface.
Pistil-flowers
Oddly enough, the baobab blooms precisely during periods of drought. Completely bare branches are covered with large flowers, vaguely similar to cotton. The fluffy roses can reach 20 cm in diameter, exuding a pleasant, but rather peculiar aroma. Flowers open in the late afternoon or at night, so they act as pollinators the bats. And if local residents have long been accustomed to such a picture, then for tourists the pollination process turns into a real enchanting spectacle. By morning, the spherical flower buds wither and fall to the ground.
Dinner is served
Baobab is a kind of waste-free “breadwinner”, used by the local population, as they say, both in tail and mane. The bark of the tree is used to make paper, fishing gear, various household utensils (bags, baskets, furniture) and even clothing. And all thanks to the extraordinary strong and durable fiber, which can withstand heavy loads and not wear out for years.
Leaves and fruits are actively used in cooking. A lot of dishes are prepared from them by boiling, frying, steaming and baking in ovens. Young baobab seedlings taste qualities resemble green asparagus, and the “insides” of ripe fruits are somewhat similar to airy marshmallows. The pulp is also used to make a tasty and healthy drink, which is served chilled and invigorating like lemonade.
By the way, many animals are not against eating the ripe fruits of the fat tree. Monkeys especially liked their sour taste, which is why the baobab received a characteristic nickname among the common people - monkey bread. Elephants do not pass by delicacies either, eating not only leaves and branches, but also trunks.
Everything will be useful on the farm
Since the core of the trunk of baobabs is very loose, it creates favorable environment for the propagation of various fungi. As a result, large internal cavities are formed, where you can not only stand in full height, but also to accommodate several people at once. In Kenya, travelers are offered a mini-hotel equipped with places for sleeping and eating inside. In Zimbabwe, one tree was “rebuilt” into a bus station for 40 people, and in Botswana they did something even more original, making a prison out of a baobab tree. African villages often use stem “tunnels” to store grain, pet food, water and other household needs.
So, the fat and clumsy, branchy giants of the desert do not suffer from a lack of human attention, which once again proves that happiness does not lie in beauty.
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