Table Of Botanical Records

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Table Of Botanical Record Breakers

Record Breakers Part I

Record Breakers Part II

Table Of Botanical Records

© W.P. Armstrong, 30 November 2021

Numbers Refer To Record Breaker Pages (Part I and Part II)

I. Table For Record Breakers Part I

Botanical Record	Name Of Plant	Comments & Runners-Up
1. Oldest Living Tree	*Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)*	*King's Holly (Lomatia tasmanica) of Tasmania.*
Other Old Life Forms	Crustose Rock Lichens	Glacier NP map lichen 8,600 years old.
Oldest Germinated Seed	*Campion (Silene stenophylla)*	*Date palm seed (Phoenix dactylifera).*
Earliest Land Plants	Liverworts: Ancient Ancestry	Ordovician Period Chart Bottle Liverwort
2. Oldest Living Fossil	Ginkgo Tree & Osmuda Fern	Found in Jurassic and Triassic Rocks.
3. Most Massive Tree	*Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron)*	*Aspen clone and Armillaria* fungus mycelia.**
4. Tallest Living Tree	*Coast Redwood (Sequoia)*	*Rivaled by Australian Eucalyptus regnans.*
5. Hardest Wood	*Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum officinale)*	South African black ironwood (Olea laurifolia)
6. Smallest Fl. Plant	*Watermeal (Wolffia globosa)*	*Rivaled by the Australian Wolffia angusta.*
Smallest Flower	*Watermeal (Wolffia) species*	A single microscopic stamen & pistil.
Largest Flowering Plant	Sierra Madre Wisteria? (Probably Not)	Probably A Giant Banyan or Aspen Clone.
Largest Flower	*Corpse Lily (Rafflesia arnoldii)*	Rain forests of Sumatra & Borneo.
Largest Inflorescence	*Bromeliad (Puya raimondii)*	*Talipot palm of India (Corypha umbraculifera).*
Stinky Fls Trap Insects	*Pipevines (Aristolochia)*	Trap insects for cross pollination.
7. Smallest Fruit	**Wolffia globosa or W. angusta**	One-seeded fruit is called a utricle.
Largest Fruit	*Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)*	Many-seeded fruit is called a pome.
Largest Fruit On A Tree	*Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)*	*Related to breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis).*
Largest Bean Pod	*Sea Heart (Entada gigas)*	Heart-shaped seeds drift across oceans!
Largest Seed Cone	Tropical Cycads	Lepidozamia and Encephalartos.
Largest Sperm	*Cycad (Zamia roezlii)*	*Almost as large as Wolffia* plant body!**
8. Large Hitchhiker Fruit	*Devil's Claw (Proboscidea)*	North and South American anachronism?
9. Largest Vegetable	*True Yam (Dioscorea)*	*Kelp (algae) & horseradish tree (Moringa).*
10. Smallest Seed	Epiphytic Tropical Orchids	Seeds the size of spores or dust particles!
Largest Seed	*Seychelles Is. Palm (Lodoicea)*	Largest seed embryo: Mora oleifera
11. Largest Leaf	*Raffia Palm (Raphia regalis)*	*Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica)*
Smallest Leaf	*Duckweed (Spirolela polyrrhiza)*	Prophyllum is technically a reduced leaf.

II. Table For Record Breakers Part II

Botanical Record	Name Of Plant	Comments & Runners-Up
12. Largest Flying Seed	*Climbing Gourd (Alsomitra macrocarpa)*	Large helicopter seeds of Diptocarpaceae.
Large Flying Fruit	*Quipo Tree (Cavanillesia platanifolia)*	Massive rain forest tree native to Panama.
13. Drift Seed Record	*Mary's Bean (Merremia discoidesperma)*	Longest "documented" drift seed record.
14. Fastest Reproduction	Wolffia microscopica Native To India	One nonillion plants in about four months.
15. Fastest Growing	Some Bamboo (grow over 30 in/day)	*Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) 18 in/day.*
Tallest Grass	*Timber Bamboo (Dendrocalamus)*	*Flowering bamboo; Phytoliths in grasses.*
16. Fastest Trapdoor	Carnivorous Bladderwort (Utricularia)	Jaws of trapjaw ant much faster!
17. Deadliest Seeds	Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)	Also rosary bean (Abrus precatorius).
Deadliest Microbe	*Botulism (Clostridium botulinum)*	Aflatoxins from mold (Aspergillus flavus).
18. Most Painful Plant	Jumping Cholla (Opuntia bigelovii)	*Australian bush nettles (Dendrocnide* ).**
Most Miserable	*Poison Oak & Ivy (Toxicodendron)*	Miserable cell-mediated immune respone.
19. Most Valuable Jewel	Baltic Amber (Ancient Araucariad)	New World Amber, Jet & Vegetable Ivory.
20. Coconut Pearl Hoax	*Probably From Tridacna* Clam**	Authenticity Of Coconut Pearl Questioned.
21. Complex Plant-Insect	*Fig (Ficus) & Fig Wasps 830 Species*	Sex Life Of Figs On Wayne's Word.
1st Cultivated Plant?	*Parthenocarpic (Ficus carica) or Cereal*	Wasps & Calimyrna Figs With Seeds.
22. Largest Ballistic Seed	*Sandbox Tree (Hura crepitans)*	Seed capsule explodes like a grenade!
23. Bizarre Wildflower	*Sand Food (Pholisma sonorae)*	Sand dune endemic: Calif. & Baja Calif.
24. Smallest Poppy	*Pygmy Poppy (Canbya candida)*	Rare California endemic wildflower.
25. Hottest Chile Pepper	Capsicum chinense 'Moruga Scorpion'	New Mex. State U. Chile Pepper Institute.
26. Largest Plant Family	#1 Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)	#2 Orchidaceae (Orchid Family)
27. Longest Plant Name	Bulb Plant Genus: Ornithogalum	Species: adseptentrionesvergentulum
28. Most Primitive Flower	Amborella trichopoda	Native to New Caledonia
29. Rarest Flowering Plant	Pennantia baylisiana? Other Species?	Native to New Zealand
30. Most Unusual Habitat	A Lichen That Lives On Rabbit Poop!	Pinnacles National Park, Calif.
31. Largest Plant Genus	Locoweeds (Rattleweeds): Astragalus	Some California Locoweeds

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