Pando, an extraordinary organism residing in Utah, quietly stands out among the myriad of living beings that inhabit our planet, captivating scientists and nature enthusiasts alike.
This remarkable colony of quaking aspen trees ( Populus tremuloides ) stretches across 106 acres, and is connected by an extensive underground root system that forms a single, unified organism rather than just a forest of unrelated individuals.
With its remarkable size and age, Pando dwarfs its fellow inhabitants, holding the potential to be not only the oldest living being but also the largest organism on Earth. It is a symbol of nature’s resilience and complexity over millennia.
Utah’s pride: The incredible Pando
A group of American researchers has suggested that this 106-acre woodland in the heart of Utah could have originated from a single seedling, which sprouted 34,000 years ago, pre-dating the end of the last ice age .
Even bolder estimates propose that this clonal organism, which appears to consist of 47,000 separate trees, might have been present tens of thousands of years earlier.