![](https://suzannesmomsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fallpando02.jpg?w=1024)
Photo: J Zapell/Wikimedia.
The world’s oldest organism, a grove of Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) sharing one root system. From Fish Lake National Forest website.
Here’s something that’s a little hard to believe. Unless you live in Utah, I suppose. It’s a forest with one root system, so it’s technically one tree, and its “genetic integrity has been sustained over a long period time (between 9,000 and 12,000 years),” according to Wikipedia.
I first got interested thanks to Kayleen Devlin’s story “Can Trees Really Live Forever?” at BBC Earth, which focused on ancient gingko trees, mostly in China. But Pando in Utah is said to be the world’s largest tree. And it’s really old.
Wikipedia says, “Pando (Latin for ‘I spread’), the world’s largest tree, is a quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) located in Sevier County, Utah in the Fishlake National Forest. A male clonal organism, Pando has an estimated 47,000 stems (ramets) that appear as individual trees, but are connected by a root system that spans 106 acres.
“Pando is the largest tree by weight and landmass and, is the largest known aspen clone. Pando was identified as a single living organism because each of its stems possesses identical genetic markers. The massive interconnected root system coordinates energy production, defense and regeneration across its expanse. Pando spans 0.63 miles by 0.43 miles of the southwestern edge of the Fishlake Basin in the Fremont River Ranger District of the Fishlake National Forest and lies 0.43 miles to the west of Fish Lake, the largest natural mountain freshwater lake in Utah. Pando is located at an elevation of 2,700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level.
“Pando occupies approximately 106 acres (43 ha) and is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000 tonnes (6,000,000 kg), or 13.2 million pounds, making it the heaviest known organism. Systems of classification used to define large trees vary considerably, leading to some confusion about Pando’s status. In contrast to the General Sherman Tree, the largest single stem tree, Pando is often characterized as an ‘organism’ or ‘plant.’ Pando, however, is a tree and commonly known as the ‘Pando Tree.’
“Within the United States, the Official Register of Champion Trees defines the largest trees in a species specific way, in this case, Pando is the largest aspen tree (Populus tremuloides). In forestry, the largest trees are measured by the greatest volume of a single stem, regardless of species. While many emphasize that Pando is the largest clonal organism, other large trees, including Redwoods can also reproduce via cloning. This leaves Pando in a class of its own being the largest aspen tree, largest tree by weight and, the largest by land mass, combined.“
More at Friends of Pando, here, BBC Earth, here, and Wikipedia, here.
Wowsah! I had no idea. Nature is marvelous. Simply marvelous.
So glad a plant can survive through thousands of years!