Plants surround us all our lives. From early childhood, we observe how flowers grow and bloom, trees are covered with green leaves, in autumn we collect bouquets of leaves, and in the summer we grow cucumbers and greens in the garden.
Plants are a separate biological kingdom, very rich and diverse. It includes at least 320 thousand species. A separate article could be written about each of them, because they are all unique, have their own unique properties.
But, even if you know a lot about this kingdom, 10 interesting facts about plants may surprise you.
10. Victoria Regia leaf up to two meters in diameter
Victoria Regia or Victoria Amazon - an aquatic plant, is the largest water lily in the world. Distributed in Brazil, on the Amazon River, as well as in Bolivia.
This plant has wide floating leaves that have a round shape, the edges of the leaf are often bent up. They are huge sheet diameter may exceed 2 m. The leaves are reinforced with hollow ribs, they withstand a large weight of up to 30 kg, in some cases up to 50 kg. The bottom of these huge leaves is purple or reddish brown. They are needed to protect the water lily from aquatic animals and fish.
The flowers are hidden under water, appear on the surface only once a year. Flowering is short, you can admire them only 2-3 days. They reveal one at a time. From them comes a surprisingly pleasant aroma. In the opened state, their diameter, compared with the sheet, is small, only 20-30 cm.
9. The eucalyptus bark is constantly updated
Eucalyptus trees are one of the tallest trees that can reach up to 100 m in height. In a year it is stretched by 5-15 cm. The bark prevents the tree from growing, so it drops it annually, it falls from the trunks in pieces or entire layers.
According to the structure of the bark, eucalyptus trees are divided into several groups. There are smooth-barked trees, in which the bark is smooth, falling in pieces and ribbons. There are also fibrous bark with a thick layer of bark, brown, which persists on large branches and trunk, and others.
Of particular interest is the rainbow eucalyptus, stretching for 24 m. It has a bark of different colors, its color is constantly changing, which is why it got this name. The young bark is green, then it turns blue, violet, orange and even burgundy.
8. Rafflesia Arnoldi - the largest flower
This parasite plant can be seen on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Rafflesia Arnoldi is a single flower, considered the largest on the planet.. The diameter is 60-100 cm, and they weigh up to 8 kg. It has no leaves, stem, roots, because he receives nutrition from the host.
He was named after the English naturalist Joseph Arnold. The flower was discovered by a local conductor who worked with him in the forest, on the southwestern part of the island of Sumatra.
Other names - "Lotus flower" or "cadaveric lily". It is red with a brown tint, with a special aroma similar to the smell of rotten meat to attract insects. The bud ripens for several months, and blooms for several days. The fruits are like berries, they have a lot of seeds.
7. Bamboo - the tallest grass in the world
The genus "bamboo" includes more than 140 species, which mainly grow in humid tropics. It is considered the fastest growing plant on the planet. In one day, it can be extended by 1 m, but on average grows to 40 cm.
One of its largest species is ordinary bamboo, with bright yellow stems and green leaves. But The dendrocalamus species is considered the longest; it extends 40-50 m.
The shoots of the young bamboo are soft, then harden, the core is bright yellow. During a period of rapid growth, its sprouts can even pierce a stone.
6. Pine Methuselah - one of the oldest trees on Earth
One of the oldest trees is the spinous pine, which was called Methuselah.. The seed from which it grew sprouted in 2831 BC, i.e. his age is 4849 years.
It was discovered by the botanist Edmund Schulman in 1953. It grows in California, in the Inio National Forest, near the White Mountains ridge. Its exact location is hidden so that the tree does not suffer from vandals.
For a long time, this pine was the oldest non-colonial tree, until in 2012 a pine of the same species, whose age is 5069 years, was discovered.
5. The cashew tree of Pirangi covers almost 2 hectares of land
In Brazil, near the city of Natal, an unusual tree grows that looks more like a forest. It covers an area 80 times larger than ordinary cashews and produces about 80 thousand fruits a year.
Pirangi cashew tree was planted in 1888 by an ordinary fisherman.. But there was some kind of genetic mutation in it, because of which the branches of the tree, as soon as they touch the ground, take root and begin to grow. Now it is the most famous landmark of the country.
4. Baobab - the thickest tree on the planet
The thickest trees on the planet grow in the dry savannahs of tropical Africa, the trunk diameter of which reaches 10 m, in all its representatives it is at least 8 m.
Despite such impressive dimensions, the height of the baobabs is not so great, about 20 m. The extraordinary thickness of this tree is used by local residents. In Zimbabwe, a train station was made in a hollow baobab, in which there were several dozen seats. A prison was created from him in Bostwan, and a hotel in Kenya. And in one of the oldest baobabs, which is at least 6 thousand years old, a bar was made, a favorite place for foreign tourists.
3. A mad cucumber throws seeds at 10 m
Mad Cucumber is a herbaceous plant that is known for throwing seeds. It grows in the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean; it prefers roadsides, garbage places, vegetable gardens (weeds), and the seashore. The stem stretches for 50-150 cm.
Outwardly looks like an ordinary cucumber. Fruits are green, juicy, oblong in shape, which grow up to 4-6 cm, their width is 1.5-2.6 cm. They are blunt at both ends, prickly, they have a lot of seeds. The length of the seeds is one centimeter, they are long, brown, smooth and small. When the seeds ripen, the tissue that surrounds them turns into a mucous mass.
A lot of pressure forms inside the cucumber, it breaks away from the stem, and the seeds with mucus fly outward, over great distances, more than 6 m. This happens in August or September.
2. Oceanic Posidonia - marine record holder, its length is about 8 km
One of the largest plants in the world is Posidonia oceanic. In 2006, a specimen was discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, the length of which was 8 km. It grows along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Named after the ruler of the seas Poseidon. Prefers to grow in colonies, forming whole meadows at a depth of 30-50 m.
It would be wrong to call Posidonia algae, this is a real plant, because he has a root, stems, flowers, seeds. It is necessary for the underwater world, because saturates water with oxygen and becomes a home for underwater inhabitants. Leaves and shoots are often thrown ashore by the sea. Locals use them as packaging material.
1. Hyperion - the tallest tree
The tallest living tree on the planet - Hyperion. Its height is 115, 61 m, diameter - 4.84 m. One of the representatives of the sequoia is evergreen, which grows in California, in the Redwood National Park. He was discovered in 2006, in a remote part of the park, two naturalists, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor.
The exact location of the tree is hidden, otherwise the flow of tourists will go to it, and this will disrupt the ecosystem.
It is assumed that Hyperion is at least 700-800 years old. It could grow even higher, but woodpeckers damaged its trunk at the very top, due to which in the near future the tree may not be the champion, it can be overtaken by others.