World's largest plant discovered off Australia's west coast

Tags: Science and Technology

The world's largest plant has recently been discovered off the west coast of Australia, it is a sea grass with a length of 180 km.

• About the plant 

• The name of the discovered plant is Posidonia australis or ribbon weed.

•  It has been discovered in Shark Bay by a group of researchers from Flinders University and The University of Western Australia.

• Researchers have also found that the plant is 4,500 years old, is sterile, and has double the number of chromosomes than other similar plants.

• The plant has managed to survive in the volatile atmosphere of the shallow Shark Bay.

• Plant’s size

• Posidonia australis covers an area of 20,000 hectares.

• The second largest plant, is the clonal colony of a quaking Aspen tree in Utah, which covers 43.6 hectares area.

• The largest tree in India is the Great Banyan in the Botanical Garden of Howrah which is spread over 1.41 hectares.

• The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.