Some plants reproduce vegetatively: any part separated from them becomes an independent organism. Scientists call it "the path to immortality": there are entire colonies of clone plants, whose age is hundreds of thousands of years.
The formation of a new individual from the multicellular part of the parent's body (vegetative reproduction) is widespread in nature: in this way, bacteria, fungi, flowers, trees and even some representatives of the animal kingdom reproduce in this way: for example, worms or sponges. With a combination of favorable factors, an organism cloned itself can occupy gigantic territories and live for many years.
The clonal colony of Posidonia oceani in the Mediterranean Sea is considered the oldest on Earth: this underwater flowering plant has occupied an area of the bottom that reaches 8 kilometers in diameter. The age of this cluster may be about 100 thousand years.
Photo: Mark Burgess / Wikipedia
Younger (age "only" 80 thousand years) Pando Grove grows in Utah. The name comes from the Latin word "pando", which means "I spread." The aspen poplar plantation (lat. Populus tremuloides) was opened in 1968, and in 2006 the grove was named "one of the 40 wonders of America."
Younger (age "only" 80 thousand years) Pando Grove grows in Utah. The name comes from the Latin word "pando", which means "I spread." The aspen poplar plantation (lat. Populus tremuloides) was opened in 1968, and in 2006 the grove was named "one of the 40 wonders of America."
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About 47 thousand genetically identical trees occupy 43 hectares, and their total weight is 6,000 tons, which makes the grove the largest living organism on Earth. The average age of each poplar is about 130 years; dying, the tree has time to replace itself with a "clone", releasing a shoot from its root.
Some scientists believe that the first tree could have appeared here a million years ago, but this is difficult to prove. The 80,000-year-old root system was established based on a combination of historical and environmental factors. Scientists explain the large role in such an active spread of the colony in a limited area by the frequent fires that raged here in the distant past. The fire destroyed the main competitor of the poplar - coniferous trees, and he himself waited out the extreme conditions underground. After the site was cleared, the poplar could only release a fresh shoot to the surface.
Unfortunately, the grove has begun to die: in recent years, biologists have found fewer young trees. The exact reason for this has not been established; among the versions - climate change, fungal infection or agricultural activity.
Anastasia Barinova