Nature Facts

Giant tower: Red wood

The world's largest individual organism is the Californian redwood tree. It is a majestic evergreen tree with a reddish brown trunk. Trees having a girth of 24m and a height of 120m have been reported. These trees are abundant in the Redwood Creek Valley in North America.

It is believed that the life span of reduced trees are about 2,400-4,000 years.According to estimates, the average weight of a tree is 2,000 tons. It is difficult to destroy the trunk of this tree by fire or by insects.












 

Selfish plant that depends on others: Cuscuta

It is a vine that grows entangled like a mess of yellow thread on bushes. This is a non-photosynthetic parasitic plant.

The root produced by the germinating seed attaches to a soft stem and obtains all its nourishment from the other plant.

There are instances where the host plant has died. Then Cascuta will also die unless it invades another host plant.


 

Fruit which propels with wings: Hora

Found in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, the Hora tree is an endemic plant with an erect trunk. It grows up to about 30 meters high.

The flower has two large sepals. During the formation of fruits the sepals do not fall off but persist in the fruit.

The fruit is dispersed to far away places by rotating on its two axis. It is released from the tree with the aid of its two sepals.











 

Snake born to a bush: Tiger claw

It is found in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. The fruit of the tiger claw plant is hard when dried. It has a pair of sharp hooks similar to the head of a snake. The fruit attaches itself to the body of animals with the aid of sharp hooks. This helps in its dispersal.

Sent by a reader