Cool Plants and Trees

[Michaelangelica]

This is awesome apparently it only blooms every 35 years or so.
Nature is so extravagent and incredible.
I am in awe of this.
http://www.gridskipper.com/travel/ne...lyn-193640.php
Racoon could you post some pics of it here ??
A silly, purile write up about it:-

At the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, botanists and others who enjoy the smell of rotting death are lining up to watch the humongous corpse flower bloom. The species, a native of Sumatra, blooms very rarely and when it does, releases the smell of putrefaction. The plant's bud grows nearly 7" a day and looks like a big yellow dick, hence it's scientific name amorphophallus titanum or, to you non-Latinos, "giant shapeless penis." The bloom lasts only 24 to 48 hours so unless you book it to the Gardens by 6pm on Friday (Aug 11) or get there early tomorrow (the Gardens open at 10), you'll have to get your corpse-smell fix somewhere else.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
BBG Corpse Flower blog [BBG]
Live Webcam [BBG]

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

I am in awe of this.

Racoon could you post some pics of it here ??

Very cool and fascinating indeed micheal
I believe the Corpse Flower has the distinction of being the worlds largest flower and is quite rare.

[Racoon]

Giant Sequoias

Giant Sequoia is the world's largest tree in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50-85 m (150-280 ft) and 5-7 m (16-23 ft) in diameter. Record trees have been reported to be 93.6 m (307 ft) in height and 8.85 m (29 ft) in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia based on ring count is 3,200 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 60 cm (2 ft) thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. The leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3-6 mm long, and arranged spirally on the shoots. The seed cones are 4-7 cm long and mature in 18-20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for up to 20 years

The Giant Sequoia was well known to Native American tribes living in its area. Native American names for the species include Wawona, Toos-pung-ish and Hea-mi-withic, the latter two in the language of the Tule River Tribe.



link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Sequoia

[Mercedes Benzene]

I believe the Corpse Flower has the distinction of being the worlds largest flower and is quite rare.

I've seen it on display before in D.C.
Imagine what it would be like to see it in the wild!

[pgrmdave]

What is the purpose of a flower so large? Aren't flowers designed to attract pollinators, hence their size, shape, and colors? What kind of pollinator is that big?

[Janus]

Two plants that can be found around where I live:

Foxglove:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/w...d/27/27.4.html

and

Cascara:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhamnus_purshiana

Both of medicinal value.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by pgrmdave

What is the purpose of a flower so large? Aren't flowers designed to attract pollinators, hence their size, shape, and colors? What kind of pollinator is that big?

Really BIG flies?
There are many plants that use a "rotting meat fragrance" to attract pollinating flies. The Corpse Flower does seem to have overdone it a little -
unless there were once dinosaur flies?

On the Giant Sequoias,
I saw a small forest of them when I visited California many years ago.
They were awesomely impressive, majestic trees.
I could never cut one down. It would be like burning down a medieval cathedral.

I saw a "baby" one, 35 years old, in a park in Rotorua NZ; it was impressive too.

[Ganoderma]

i am not certain but i think sitka spruce, western red cedars and douglas firs have seqouia beat for size. i am not sure about the states but canadas biggest is the carmanah giant which is 95ish m tall and pretty damn wide...i never measured it though. whenever i went hiking around there (it was my home for 20 years) i would always find a new tree that looked liek it could fit a large truck inside it. lots of history in this area, but i think there are probably bigger ones hidden in the mountains. certainly there are ones that appear bigger, but life is doomed to the chainsaw in BC.

i know its not a plant or tree, but many peopl eclump fungi in with plants...so maybe i can slip this one in. Honey mushroom, some BIG fungi!!!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s828525.htm

my problem is. mushrooms creat spores. a mushroom apperantly that size would then produce trillions of trillions of spores. i highly doubt that this mushroom is all one, but a lot that grew into each other and appear to be one. i havnt seen any genetic testing on it, if that is possible?

Originally Posted by Racoon

Giant Sequoias

Giant Sequoia is the world's largest tree in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50-85 m (150-280 ft) and 5-7 m (16-23 ft) in diameter. Record trees have been reported to be 93.6 m (307 ft) in height and 8.85 m (29 ft) in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia based on ring count is 3,200 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 60 cm (2 ft) thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. The leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3-6 mm long, and arranged spirally on the shoots. The seed cones are 4-7 cm long and mature in 18-20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for up to 20 years

The Giant Sequoia was well known to Native American tribes living in its area. Native American names for the species include Wawona, Toos-pung-ish and Hea-mi-withic, the latter two in the language of the Tule River Tribe.



link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Sequoia

[Michaelangelica]

When you drive through Tasmania you see huge semi-trailers with just one bit of a tree on board.
The old growth forests produce such BIG trees.
Most go to make paper in Japan.
http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaig...ania/big_tree/

Largest tree in Australia killed by Forestry Tasmania

Photo: El Grande after regen burn, Florentine Valley, Tasmania 2003
El Grande after regen burn,
Florentine Valley, Tasmania 2003

El Grande, Australia's most massive tree, has been killed by Forestry Tasmania's regeneration burn, according to a botanical consultant.

According to Forestry Tasmania, the tree had been protected from a regeneration burn in a nearby logging coupe and had been spared.

An on-site inspection of this large tree was made on 27 April 2003 by Alan Gray, a botanist with 45 years experience of eucalypts and acacias.
He has noted massive damage to the tree, including damage to its root system from machinery clearing a path around the tree; intense burning inside the hollow tree; and the loss of huge branches from the canopy as a result of flames emerging from hollows up to 65 metres high.

The examination of the tree revealed that it was clearly dead, from the roots to the crown.

"The burning of the largest flowering plant on Earth is a serious indictment of Tasmania's forest practices and should be investigated," said Geoff Law, Campaign Coordinator for the Wilderness Society.

The Wilderness Society has written to the Forest Practices Board requesting an investigation. more . . .

Please donate to this campaign to help us ensure the permanent protection of Tasmania's forests and wildlife.
TAKE ACTION! Send an email to Jim Bacon
Send an email to Dr David Kemp

Logging regime will destroy more giant trees in Styx Valley
Expert says 'El Grande' has been killed

[Tarantism]

there are some really great redwood forests out here in CA. especially in big sur and the santa cruz mountains. many a relaxing hike have i taken in between the trees.