Interesting facts about flowers
Largest leaves – Palm Raffia has the largest leaves in the world. They reach 20 m and are larger than all tree species.
The smallest flowering plant – The floating duckweed of Wolffia Arhrys is the smallest flowering plant in the world. The size of its leaves is only 0.5-1.2 mm in diameter.
The deepest roots – The longest roots are found in wild ficus from South Africa. They reached 120 m.
The first plant an astronaut – The first plant that bloomed and produced seeds in space in the absence of gravity is Arabidopsis. Its life cycle is only 40 days; A copy of Arabidopsis was grown in 1982 aboard the Russian space station Salyut-7
The largest living creature – The largest living creature on Earth – a giant sequoia, it grows in California, USA, and is named “General Sherman”. Its height is 83 meters, the trunk circumference is 24.1 m. Its wood would be enough for 40 one-story houses or 5 billion matches.
The largest rosewood is the Lady Shelter Rosewood from Tambtown, Arizona, USA. It has a trunk 101 cm thick and 2.74 m high, covering an area of 499 m2. It is supported by 68 supports, and under its branches 150 people can accommodate.
The oldest seed-producing plant, the Ancestors of the Gingko or Adiantum, grew in what is now China over 180 million years ago. Then there was the Jurassic period on earth, and it was inhabited by dinosaurs. The surviving Gingko tree looks almost the same as its prehistoric ancestors.
The largest aquatic plant – The giant water lily from the Amazon is the largest aquatic plant. Its leaves, reaching 2 m, are able to support a child. Strong ribs under the leaves help them stay afloat.
The most and least nutritious fruit – The most nutritious fruit in the world is avocado. It contains 741 calories per pound of edible mass. And the least nutritious vegetable is cucumber, it contains only 73 calories per pound of edible mass.
The Hardiest Seeds – The age of Arctic lupine seeds found in frozen soil off the Canadian coast of the Yukon ranges from 10 to 15 thousand years. Some of these seeds took root and sprouted, and on one of them flowers even blossomed.
The plant that blooms least often – A rare plant of puiya raymondia, growing in the Andes, blooms at the age of at least 150 years. Soon after flowering, it dies.
The oldest living creature on Earth – It is estimated that the age of one of the lichens in Antarctica exceeds 10 thousand years. The age of some lichens from Alaska is 9 thousand years; in 100 years they grow by 3.4 mm.
Largest Fruits and Vegetables – Take a look at the sizes of some particularly large vegetables and fruits grown by humans:
Cabbage – 51.8 kg.
Cauliflower – 23.9 kg.
Tomatoes – 1.9 kg.
pumpkin – 171.4 kg.
mushroom umbrella – 190 cm (around the cap).
lemon – 2.65 kg.
pineapple – 7.5 kg.
melon – 40.8 kg.
Iris flowers have been known to man since ancient times. On the island of Crete there is a fresco with irises, which is about 4000 years old. The flower received its name in ancient Greece by the name of the goddess Irida, who, as a messenger of the gods, descended to the earth in a rainbow.
Peony owes its name to the legendary doctor Peon, who healed the gods and people from wounds received in battles. In China, a peony is considered a national flower, and magical properties are attributed to it. They say that evil spirits can not stand even the image of a peony.
Forget-me-not grows almost everywhere and, most interestingly, it has the same name everywhere: in English forget-me-not, in German – Vergimeinnicht, in French – ne-m’oubliez-pas and so on. Forget-me-not grew, watered with tears of the blue-eyed Egle, who was separated from her fiancé, shepherdess Lycas. However, the scientific name for forget-me-nots is “myozotis,” that is, the “mouse ear”.
Roses are the most bloody flowers. Not to mention the Scarlet and White Roses war, rose gardens are still the subject of terrible contention between English gardeners.
Karl Linney’s attempts to describe the family of orchids, which was huge, prompted Charles Darwin to think of universal evolution.
The most forbidden flowers in the world are chrysanthemums. These are the imperial flowers of Japan. One of the country’s highest awards is the Order of Chrysanthemum. During the holiday of chrysanthemums, one must admire every shade of inflorescences, while deeply reflecting on the path traveled and the meaning of life.
Tulips did not grow in Holland. This is a steppe flower of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The name “tulip” comes from the Persian word “toliban”, which means “turban”. During the reign of the Turkish Sultan Ahmed III, it was forbidden to buy or sell tulips outside the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The punishment for this crime was exile. Therefore, the documents of that period often said that the tulip was valued higher than human life.
Edelweiss, according to legend, asked one of the capricious princess from her grooms. Only one returned to her and brought a flower, however, refused to marry and went to distant lands.
