trees??

[JDEAN193155]

I had heard somewhere that there was a grove of trees somewhere in which all the roots of the trees had grown together to form one giant living organism. It was supposedly the largest living organism in the world! After doing some (limited) research (I only have computer access at work) I figured out the most likely area for that was a grove of Aspen trees in Utah but Icould find no more information. Does anyone know anything about this?? Either Cecil doesn't or it is too boring of a quesiton to ponder in his column because I have sent it in a few times over the last couple years and I love this site so I am on it everyday anyway!! Can someone tell me where this is and whether it is actually the worlds largest living organism??
Thanks!

[Mangetout]

I thought rather than growing together, they had sprouted and divided from a single plant (and may still have been connected at the roots).

There are colonies of fungus that span hundreds of miles.

[yabob]

You are probably thinking of this aspen grove:





http://www.extremescience.com/aspengrove.htm




It's not that the roots have grown together - it's that the whole grove has sprouted from a single root system, so that all the trees are all part of the same organism, and genetically identical.




There is not a consensus on this. Other sources grant "largest living organism" status to a fungus in Oregon:





http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scien...gus000806.html





Previous large fungi from Washington and Michigan had the title at one time.





One of the issues, of course, is that you have to determine what you mean by "largest" - greatest area? most massive? I'm sure people have other contenders as well.

[Kamandi]

Here's your huge aspen grove, JDEAN

Nicknamed "Pando" (meaning, "I spread") by the scientists who studied it, the world's largest living organism is a 6,600-ton aspen grove and is one gargantuan plant. The entire 200-acre area it covers is filled with what appears to be an entire forest of trees, but all of the trees are "suckers" that have grown from the root system of a single tree. Scientists determined that these trees are all part of a single organism by conducting genetic tests on tissue samples from all of the trees.

But it's not the largest living organism. A giant underground fungus is considerably bigger:

It is a fungus that is growing through the earth and roots of trees in the Malheur National Forest in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon.

Scientists say it covers 890 hectares (2,200 acres) of land - an area equivalent to about 1,220 football pitches.

The fungus is called Armillaria ostoyae, but is more popularly known as the honey mushroom. This particular specimen is calculated to be about 2,400 years old, although it could be two to three times this age.

Also here:

The outline of the giant fungus, strikingly similar to a mushroom, stretches 3.5 miles across, and extends an average of three feet into the ground. It covers an area as big as 1,665 football fields. No one has estimated its weight.

Incidentally, you're more likely to get responses to your questions if you use a more descriptive title. Just some friendly advice, and welcome to the SDMB!

[sward]

I, too, read about that somewhere. Until then, I thought it was Marlon Brando.