The smallest flowering plant. Plant records

cactus leaves

Most cacti we thought did not have leaves, but new research by James Mauseth has found that most of them do. thorny plants really have ultra tiny leaves. The findings, published in the International Journal of Plant Sciences, are exciting and could also help expand our understanding of leaf functionality.

Be careful with your eyes

For curious cactus owners wanting to take a look at the leaves, caution is advised. "If people look closely at their cacti to see the leaves, they should be careful with the thorns so they don't hurt their eyes," warns James Moset. A professor of biological sciences at the University of Austin in Texas explained that he recently discovered the leaves. Best viewed under a microscope, they are located at the base of the plant trunk. These are truly the smallest leaves in the world, so if you happen to have a cactus, you can safely show it off to your friends.

Cactus research results

The scientist made the discovery after collecting samples from 147 various types cacti, most of which he obtained from wildlife. Moseth then carried out extensive analysis of the plants and their tissues at high magnification.

As a result of the study, the scientist found that a little more than half of the leaves have tissues that provide water and nutrients to the cactus. Their sizes are very small, only from 30 to 2310 microns. And one micron is equal to approximately one millionth of a meter or simply 0.00003937 inches, which is why cactus leaves are documented to be the smallest in the world.

The second part of the article is about record-breaking plants. This time about record-breaking flowers, the smallest plants and several more nominations. The first part of the article -

The biggest flower

Most large flower in the plant world belongs to titanium arum. The dimensions of the flower are simply fantastic: 2.5 meters in height, up to 1.5 meters in diameter and weighing 100 kilograms! As they say, no one stood next to him. Read more about.

The largest inflorescence

It's hard to believe, but the largest inflorescence reaches 13 meters in height and has a diameter of 2.5 meters. This inflorescence belongs Pouyer Raymond. The miracle inflorescence consists of approximately 10,000 thousand small flowers white or dark blue. Also read the article about.

The smallest flower

The smallest flower belongs to the family orchids. The diameter of the petals reaches only 2.1 mm. The petals are so transparent that you can see through them! The orchid was recently discovered in the forests of Ecuador.

Longest roots

It boasts the longest roots South African ficus(wild fig). It grows in South Africa, near the Echo Caves. Its roots penetrate to a depth of 120 meters.

The largest leaves

The most large leaves belong to the palm tree Rafii Tedigera. With a trunk height of only 4-5 meters, the length of the leaves reaches more than 20 meters, and their width is 12 meters. A record-breaking tree is growing in Brazil.

The smallest plant

The smallest plant on our planet is wolfia, from duckweeds. Its length reaches only 0.5 mm. This record-breaking plant is quite common on Earth and it grows on the surface of bodies of water: swamps and ponds.

Which plant blooms the longest?

Blooms the longest Kariota Burning or wine palm. The palm tree blooms only once in its entire life, but this flowering lasts for several years. After flowering, the fruit sets and the palm dies. Caryota stinging can be found in India and Burma.

Which plant is the most poisonous?

Rafflesia(Rafflesia; Indonesian bunga patma - lotus flower), the corpse lily is the brightest symbol and rarity of the flora of Indonesia, and at the same time the largest (up to 9 kg in weight and up to a meter in diameter) flower in the world.

Amorphophallus(Latin Amorphophallus - from ancient Greek ἄμορφος, “shapeless”, and ancient Greek φαλλός, “phallus”) - a genus of the family Araceae

The smallest flower in the world has petals that are no more than 2.1 mm in diameter and are so transparent that you can see through them. This flower is orchid(belongs to the genus Platystele), discovered in the roots of an orchid of another species by the famous American botanist Lou Jost.

The smallest plant is Wolffia flower. It consists of a tiny leaf and root immersed in water. Wolfia blooms so rarely that many botanists chase its flower all their lives, but they never manage to find it... After all, the whole flower is the size of a pinhead.

The noisiest tree is the so-called cannon tree, growing in Guiana. Its fruits are round balls up to 18 cm in diameter. They hang from the trunk on thick loops. The wind blows, and the balls begin to hit the barrel and each other with a cannon roar.

The most solid wood- This Schmidt birch. A bullet will not pierce it, and the sharpest ax will become dull without causing harm to the tree. Schmidt's birch grows only in Russia, in Primorye, in the Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve.

This amazing water lily has been named after the most famous English queen for more than a century and a half. Nothing surprising. Victoria regia is the queen of flora, the world's largest aquatic plant. It is also called “Amazonian Victoria”, as it can be found on the warm rivers and lakes of the Amazon basin

Carnegia gigantea (Saguaro) Another amazing plant cactus family . The height of individual plants is about 14 meters, and the diameter is more than 3 meters! Moreover, the age of individual cacti reaches 150 years.

Nepenthes (Nepenthes). Most plants from this genus can be called, without exaggeration, “predators”, which obtain the necessary missing nutrients by “digesting” captured insects. The surface of the “neck” of the jug is very slippery, so there is practically no chance for an insect walking along the neck not to slip down. An insect falls into the water (at individual species the jug can contain up to 2 liters of water) and sinks. Next, enzymes are produced that completely “digest” the insect. Sometimes not only insects are trapped, but even mice , rats, birds.

At first glance, it may seem that the photo above depicts a forest. In fact, it is one single tree. Ficus bengal forms powerful branches to support which shoots grow, which, when released down to the ground, take root, forming powerful columns-trunks.

Puya Raymonda The Bromeliad family, native to the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes, has the largest inflorescence with a diameter of 2.5 meters and a height of about 12 meters, consisting of approximately 10,000 simple flowers. It is a pity that this amazing plant blooms only when it reaches 150 years of age, and then dies.

Raulia eximia, English name sounds like "vegetable sheep", which very accurately describes the appearance of the plant. This 1.5 m tall bush really resembles a lamb. Grows in New Zealand.

Pachypodium namaquanum The plant's English name translates to "elephant's trunk." This succulent has fleshy leaves, collected in a large funnel, pointed at the end. The homeland of pachypodium is Namibia, where the plant thus has to survive in the heat by accumulating moisture in the leaf blades.

Cross-shaped collection (Colletia paradoxa)

Giant Kirkazon (Aristolochia gigantea). Grows in a wide variety of climatic conditions. Kirkazon is significant primarily for its flowers. Everyone possible ways flowers imitate... rotting meat. This is facilitated by both the corresponding smell and color.

Desmodium gyrans. Modern botanists call it either Desmodium gyrans, or, more correctly, Codariocalyx Motorius. This plant surprises everyone with the movement of its leaves - the plant seems to be dancing, especially if there is a lot of sun.

Euphorbia obesa very similar to a ball . This plant is native to South Africa and has become famous for its original shape. This plant is also known for its rarity - the fact is that Euphorbia obesa is endemic, that is, it grows strictly in a certain region, not found anywhere else.

New Zealand nettle tree. The most dangerous stinging plant is the New Zealand nettle tree. It can kill a dog and even a horse, etc. crawling under their skin with a mixture of strong poisons. The fine, stinging hairs on the leaves contain histamine and formic acid.

Common arum (Dracunculus vulgaris)- plant up to 90 cm tall, leaves reach 20 cm in length.
Leaf petioles and fleshy stems - with brown spots, which gives them the appearance of snakeskin. An inflorescence appears at the top of each stem at the beginning of summer. The blanket with a wavy edge reaches a length of 45 cm. On the outside it is pale green, on the inside it is purple-crimson. The dark purple cob is the same length as the spathe.

Amorphophallus(from Latin its name translates as “shapeless penis”) belongs to the lily family. Its flowers are huge leaves dissected in the middle, from which a large cob emerges. The aroma of amorphophallus is usually compared to the smell rotten eggs, spoiled fish or meat, but it attracts insects that pollinate the plant. The plant lives for about 40 years and during this time it blooms only a couple of times.

BLOODY TOOTH (HYDNELLUM PECKII). This cute fungus looks like chewed bubble gum, oozing blood and smelling like strawberries. But don’t even think about eating it, because this will be the last “delicacy” you will taste in your life.

DOLL'S EYE. This unusual plant called “doll eyes”. There is also a less telling name for this horror - black sheep. No features other than yours appearance this plant does not possess.

CEDAR-APPLE RUST FUNGUS. Cedar-apple rotting mushroom - fungal infection, transforming apple and cedar fruits beyond recognition. You can make horror films about this abomination: infected fruits turn into disgusting monsters in just a few months. Here's how it happens: from a tiny fungal spore, an impressively sized spherical body develops - from 3.5 to 5 centimeters in diameter; when wet, this abomination exfoliates, forming disgusting tendrils.

CHINESE FLEECEFLOWER. The fruits of the “rune flower” have frightening shapes that make them look like little potato people. The Chinese are uprooting these tiny underground inhabitants from the earth in order to use their naked, defenseless bodies as a panacea for all diseases, including impotence, cancer, AIDS, dementia, etc., etc. ... Before turning into life-giving powder, the little men are subjected to all kinds of torture, including including: boiling, skinning, soaking in moonshine and dismemberment.

There is an assumption that the Chinese simply grow these roots in a pot of the desired shape...

PORCUPINE TOMATO. The Porcupine tomato is a one and a half meter monster growing in Madagascar, the leaves of which are covered with terrifying-looking spines. orange color. This spiky miracle has incredibly beautiful purple flowers, collected in clusters, with which he lures his victims to him: and now you bend down to pick one of them and find yourself impaled on “deadly” thorns. In addition to the fact that the Porcupine tomato is prickly and poisonous, it is almost impossible to kill: it does not care for most chemicals and can survive severe cold and even severe drought. As you already understood, this creation of nature is a monster weed. Behind a short time one plant can produce a whole army of Porcupine tomatoes, which in a few weeks will turn into 1.5 meter giants, each of which will fight to the last and shed more than one liter of your blood before being uprooted from the ground.

Lithops. This unusual plant can be found in the deserts of South Africa. Lithops exclusively prefer heat and dry habitats. The name of this plant, translated from Greek, means "stone"

Parachute flower (Ceropegia woodii) The petals joined together and something like a lollipop covered with hair together form a hollow tube, covered from the inside with hairs directed inward. The smell of the plant attracts insects that fall into the trap.

Entertaining botany [With transparent illustrations] Tsinger Alexander Vasilievich

4. The smallest flowering plant

Perhaps you, reader, are of little interest to these plant pygmies, which can only be seen through a microscope; Maybe you prefer, although larger pygmies, but from “real” plants, from plants with roots, stems, leaves and flowers? Let's take a quick look at some of these pygmies.

Which flowering plant is the smallest in the world? Before definitely answering this question, let’s remember one tiny plant that is very familiar to everyone - let’s remember the ordinary small duckweed ( Lemna minor), with its round leaves sometimes completely covering the surface of standing water in ponds, puddles, swampy creeks, ditches, etc. The entire plant consists of a leaf and a single root immersed in water. We will simply say “leaf,” although botanists have proven that it is not a leaf at all, but a flattened stem. So be it; It's not that important to us.

Rice. 19. Lesser duckweed (Lemna minor) and rootless wolfia (Wolfia arrhiza): a - duckweed, enlarged 10 times, b - wolfia, enlarged 10 times, c - schematic section of flowering wolfia, enlarged 10 times, d - wolfia c natural size.

Duckweed can reproduce very quickly. A new leaf grows at the edge of the leaf, which then separates and begins independent life. Duckweed is a flowering plant; but have you ever seen duckweed with flowers? It blooms very, very rarely.

I remember, in the ancient times of my boyhood hobbies in botany, I passionately wanted to find a blooming duckweed. I was especially enticed by my father’s story about a famous botanist who spent several years searching in vain for duckweed flowers, and then accidentally came across a pond completely covered with blooming duckweed. I managed to find many different plant rarities at that time, but despite all my efforts, I never found a flowering duckweed. Moreover, much later, as an adult, sometimes, remembering previous failures, I spent hours sorting through countless amounts of duckweed, but never found a single flower. I’ve seen their flowers two or three times in my life, but only in herbariums.

What do duckweed flowers look like? A tiny scaly cone grows on the edge of the leaf, in which stigmas and two stamens protrude. All this is the size of a pin head. It would be a shame to call it a flower, but botanists consider it not even just a flower, but a whole inflorescence of one female and two male flowers!

The smallest flowering plant in the world is similar to duckweed, but only about four times smaller. This plant is called wolfia, or rootless duckweed ( Wolfia arrhiza). Its tiny leaves are flat on top and convex below. There is no spine. A flower similar to our duckweed, but with only one stamen. Wolffia is not found in our Moscow region, but further south, in Ukraine, it is found quite often, and, like our duckweed, sometimes completely covers standing waters. If you, reader, happen to come across thickets of wolfia somewhere near Kiev or Kharkov, I do not advise you to try to find a flower. You'll be wasting your time! Wolfia, brought to us from warm countries, as botanists believe, never blooms in Europe.