Aspen forest, the largest and oldest living creature in the world

In the US state of Utah, there is such a wonderful garden land as Bryce Canyon, Zion or the amazing arches, there is a place with more than the unbelievable. Nobody knows it, few tourists visit it, and yet there is the largest and oldest living creature that exists on earth.

This is the Fishlake National Foresta park named after the largest freshwater lake in the state inhabited by eagles, jaguars and mountain lions.

aspen forest

In the Fremont River Ranger, in the southern area of ​​the park, you can admire a place unique in the world: a huge forest of American aspen treesIt is so named because its leaves vibrate even in the presence of a light breeze. So far nothing strange. The fact is that in fact it is not about many trees, but about only one.

“The Trembling Giant”

This phenomenon is crazy. It is estimated that the roots of this giant tree, which were called “pando” (from the Latin word “pander”, “stretch” or “explain”) or “trembling giant“(“Giant Tremulous”) has an area of ​​106 acres, which is 428.967 square meters, and weighs about 5,896,700 kilograms, making it Heaviest living creature ever known.

It would also be the oldest living organism found on our planet. According to experts, it has 80 thousand years. Scientifically speaking, it is a clonal or genetic colony or group of genetically identical individuals, such as some fungi or bacteria, grown in the same place, all of which arose from a single ancestor.

In fact, scientists have proven that all Pando branches (there are about 47 thousand) are part of the same organism, with a huge root system estimated to weigh about 6,615 tons.

Aspen trees tend to reproduce by developing their roots horizontally underground. After traveling a certain distance, it develops vertically Resulting in the emergence of a new trunk.

A tree of this type can live up to 200 years, but the colony to which it belongs can exceed thousands of years and occupy an area of ​​several hundred square meters where it continues to reproduce from the same root.

It’s not the only forest in the United States made of aspen trees, but Pando is the largest of all.