Largest Plant : UPSC Daily Important Topic | 18 June 2022

Largest Plant :

✓The largest known plant on Earth – a seagrass roughly three times the size of Manhattan – has been discovered off the coast of Australia.

✓Using genetic testing, scientists have determined a large underwater meadow in Western Australia is in fact one plant.

✓It is believed to have spread from a single seed over at least 4,500 years.

✓The seagrass covers about 200 sq km (77 sq miles), researchers from the University of Western Australia said.

✓The team stumbled upon the discovery by accident at Shark Bay, about 800km (497 miles) north of Perth.

✓They had set out to understand the genetic diversity of the species – also known as ribbon weed – which is commonly found along parts of Australia’s coast.