100 Things I've Learned As I Learn Them: Aspen Groves Are One Organism

[rabid1st]

It has been a long time since I posted something to my 100 things category, but today I learned something amazing, the oldest living organism (discovered so far) on our planet is 80,000 years old. WOW!

It is a grove of aspen trees, nick-named Pando, that grows in Central Utah. In Celtic Shamanism, Aspen (or Poplar) wood is used for protective charms of all sorts, visions and resurrections, divination and astral projection. It helps with communication and can mend a broken heart. Poplar groves are considered portals to other realms. The particular trembling nature of the quaking aspen leaves leads to a susurration of what seem to be otherworldly voices and so primitive peoples assigned magical powers to the groves. Simple explanations for simpler times.

However, now, science has helped us understand a few more things about aspen trees. Things I'm sure our ancestors figured out by simple observation. It seems as though the trees in an aspen grove are like the hairs on the head of a huge underground root system.




It is one organism. The one in Utah may be the heaviest single organism on earth, as well. What we see are the trees it clones to feed itself. And if an American one is that old, I imagine there are older, untested, groves in Europe. Groves that might have existed before the dawn of mankind. Perhaps they do know a thing or two that we could discover...if we listen very carefully.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700071982/Central-Utahs-Pando-worlds-largest-living-thing-is-threatened-scientists-say.html

Of course, it should be self-evident that we need to stop threatening this amazing organism's survival with our pesky polluting ways. Sometimes I think the cockroaches are right about us. They not only run away from us, they frantically wash themselves after we touch them. 

Comments

[astitchintime-9.livejournal.com]

Ooookaaaayyy...

(FWIW, I prefer trees to bugs.In fact, I would hug more trees, if it weren't for the bugs.)

Aspen (aka Poplar) propagates via 'cloning'? Neat.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Trees do tend to be buggy. In fact, the entire outdoors is teaming with spiders, according to my ecology professor. Way to ruin the outdoors for me, I say!

I do think the cloning is a very neat thing.

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

So does it not seed? Or do the roots of the seeds join in with the rest of the root system?

I was idling through a furniture catalog yesterday and had an "oh, no!" response to the indication that something I liked was made of poplar wood. I feel like we should leave them alone to grow.

Are there other trees that do this? Surely it can't be just the one type!

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

Aspens are very pretty, clones or no clones. We saw groves of them on scenic Highway 12 in Utah, which most certainly lived up to its name.

As for Pando, I think a fence is the least we can do.