WORLD’S BIGGEST PLANT LIES BENEATH THE OCEAN OFF AUSTRALIAN COAST

The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, announced a magnificent flora discovery. A team of researchers discovered a 4,500-year-old field of seagrass just off the coast of Australia. You might think seagrass isn’t all that special, but this one type has an exceptional designation as the biggest known plant in the world.

You might be a little confused as to how a field of seagrass can be the biggest plant. Well, this field of seagrass particularly known as Posidonia australis, is in fact all one plant that grew from a single seed.

The researcher team were interested in seaweed and went out in different parts in Shark’s Bay to take samples of the different types. The team was busy studying the different plants in the region. However, their genetic testing held a much bigger surprising outcome. “The result blew us away: it was all one plant,” the authors wrote.

All samples were all clones carrying the entire genomes, and which multiplied at 13.7 inches over an estimated 4,500 years from that single seed. Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair, one of the researchers, told the BBC in an interview: “It appears to be really resilient, experiencing a wide range of temperatures and salinities plus extreme high light conditions, which together would typically be highly stressful for most plants.”

The plant looks like a magnificent It now covers 77 square miles of the bay in one magnificent, underwater lawn. The team of researchers is set to further investigate and study this wonderful plant and learn more about what is holds.