www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)
I just came across this and thought it was too cool not to share.
[quote]Pando (Latin for "I spread"), also known as The Trembling Giant, is a clonal colony of a single male quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) determined to be a single living organism by identical genetic markers and assumed to have one massive underground root system. The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000,000 kg (6,600 short tons), making it the heaviest known organism. The root system of Pando, at an estimated 80,000 years old, is among the oldest known living organisms.[/quote]
[quote]The clonal colony encompasses 43 hectares (106 acres), weighs nearly 5900 tonnes (13,000,000 pounds), and has [u]over 40,000 stems (trunks)[/u], which die individually and are replaced by new stems growing from its roots. The average age of Pando's stems is 130 years, as indicated by tree rings. [/quote]
So what looks like an entire forest is actually a single tree that shoots up new stems from its massive root system. Looks like I'm going to be planning a trip to Utah soon. ^.^
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Edited by Prototape: 2/6/2014 5:49:10 AMI used to live in Utah, and I've been to this forest, I just didn't know it was all one tree. That's pretty awesome. It's funny, Utah is pretty renown for its cool natural habitats, but a big portion of the population doesn't really care about it so much. So you don't often hear about things like this.