The largest plant on earth discovered scientists off the coast Western Australia, since it covers an area equivalent to 20,000 football fields or three times the size of Manhattan, New York.
More specifically, it is a huge area of underwater vegetation which constitutes a single body, and the bigger clone that has ever been found.
By conducting genetic analysis, researchers confirmed that the huge underwater meadow area of 200 square kilometers in the shallow Shark's Trick, approximately 800 kilometers north of city of Perth, is a single, unique organization.
It probably originated from a single seed at least 4,500 years ago and then, through continuous cloning, reached its current size, which has astonished scientists.
The researchers, led by Dr. Jane Englow of the University of Western Australia, published their findings in the biology journal “Proceedings of the Royal Society B” of the British Royal Society of Sciences, according to the BBC, the New York Times, and Science, reported that the plant, a species of Posidonia (Posidonia australis), grows like grass on land at a rate of 15 to 35 centimeters per year.
Theoretically, its growth can continue indefinitely if its environment does not change significantly. Today, the average depth of Shark Bay is approximately nine meters.
The plant, which provides shelter to a variety of marine species, such as turtles, dolphins, fish, crabs, etc., can withstand temperatures ranging from 15 to 30 degrees Celsius and is much larger than the largest fungus found on our planet.
The previous record holder for the largest clonal colony was another Posidonia (Posidonia oceanica) covering 15 kilometers in the western Mediterranean Sea. Posidonia are plants, although they are often mistakenly referred to as algae.
