The Most: Related to Plants

1.         Commonest grass	Cynodon dactylon (doob), Gramineae
2.         Deadliest plant	Ricinus communis has seeds rich in poison, ‘ricin’ which is about 6000 times more poisonous than cyanide and 12,000 times more poisonous than rattle snake venom.
3.         Deepest Roots	A Wild Fig tree at Echo Caves, near Ohrigstad, Mpumalanga, South Africa has roots reaching 400 feet making it the deepest a tree’s roots have penetrated.
4.         Densest root	Secale cereale (Rye): Graminae
5.         Fastest growing flowering plant	Tropical species of bamboo reach 100 ft just in 3 months.
6.         Fastest growing non-flowering plant	The brown alga Pacific giant kelp or Macrocystis pyrifera grows 18 inches per day
7.         Fastest Growing Tree	In 1974, it was noted that an Albizzia falcata in Sabah, Malaysia had grown 35 feet and 3 inches in 13 months: an approximate of 1.1 inches per day.
8.         Fastest reproducing flower plant	Wolffia microscopica reproduces vegetatively just within 30 hrs.
9.         Fastest trapdoor on a plant	Bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, trapping process occurs with about 1/60 of a second roughly the speed of a daylight camera shutter setting
10.       Flowering plants at highest altitude	Ermaria and Ranunculus lobatus (21,000 ft)
11.       Greatest Base Diameter	Waterfall Tree - Alder Creek Grove - 57 feet (17 m) - tree with enormous basal buttress on very steep ground. Tunnel Tree - Atwell Mill Grove - 57 feet (17 m) - tree with a huge flared base, that has burned all the way through
12.       Greatest Girth	In the late 18th century a European Chestnut known as the Tree of the Hundred Horses on Mount Etna in Sicily, in Italy had a circumference of 190 feet. It has since separated into three parts.
13.       Greatest Mean Diameter at Breast Height	General Grant - Grant Grove - 29.0 feet (8.8 m)
14.       Hardest and heaviest medicinal wood	Lignum iron wood tree, Guaiacum officinale produce produces with specific gravity of 1.37. Lignum or ‘wood of life’ gets its name from the medicinal properties of sweet smelling resin.
15.       Heaviest wood (India)	Acacia sundra, Hardwichia birata
16.       Heaviest wood of world	Guaicum officinale
17.       Highest calorific value	Persea americana (Lauraceae); 741 calories per pound.
18.       Highest yielding cereal (grain) crop	Maize (Zea mays)
19.       Inflorescence with high temperature	Lysichiton kamtschutkensis
20.       Largest acellular plant (or unicellular)	Acetabularia (green marine alga; 10 cm long)
21.       Largest algae	Macrocystis perifera
22.       Largest amount of protein	Soyabean
23.       Largest and widest cultivated crop	Rice (Oryza sativa)
24.       Largest Angiosperm family	Compositae
25.       Largest angiospermic parasite	Santalum (Sandal wood)
26.       Largest archegonium	In bryophyte (mosses)
27.       Largest bamboo	Dendrocalamus giganteus
28.       Largest Banyan tree	In Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah. (more than 200 yrs old; circumference of crown exceeds 400 m; It has more than 1600 prop roots)
29.       Largest bean	Woody vines, lianas or monkey ladder or “escalera de mono” (in Costa Rica language), Entida gigas has 5 ft long pods. A pea pod looks like miniature when compared to it.
30.       Largest bryophyte	Dawsonia (70 cm), Fontinalis (Brook moss)
31.       Largest bud	Cabbage
32.       Largest cactus	Cereus giganteus
33.       Largest chromosome	Trillium govanianum (30 µm)
34.       Largest cotyledons	Capsela bursa pustoris (Shepherd’s purse)
35.       Largest diameter of a plant	Cestanea sativa (167 ft, tree of hundred horses), Taxodium mucronatum (100-125 ft).
36.       Largest divided leaves	African palm, Raphia regalis has pinnate leaves up to 80 ft long
37.       Largest egg	Cycas
38.       Largest flower	Rafflesia arnoldi or Devil’s goblet (total root parasite; 1m diameter, 15 kg)
39.       Largest flower of India	Sapria (total root parasite)
40.       Largest flower orchid	Phagmipedium cauclatum
41.       Largest flying seed	Whirling nut, Gyrocarpus
42.       Largest fruit	Jackfruit, Lodoicea maldivica (Double coconut)
43.       Largest fungi	Ganoderma (wood fungus)
44.       Largest gametophytic plant	Dawsonia (moss)
45.       Largest Girth	Waterfall Tree - Alder Creek Grove - 155 feet (47 m) - tree with enormous basal buttress on very steep ground
46.       Largest grass	Bamboo (Bambusa)
47.       Largest growing tree	Albizia falcate
48.       Largest herb (herbaceous tree)	Plantain
49.       Largest herbaceous fruit	Giant pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima reported from Pennsylvania weighed 1337 pounds.
50.       Largest hitchhiking fruit (cling seed)	Proboscidea parviflora where each capsule fruit releases 40 black seeds. Each seed is about 38 cm long and bear sharp claws called ‘devil’s claws or elephant tusks.
51.       Largest inflorescence	Amorphophallus titanium, Agave (12 m). Puya raimondii has about 30 ft tall inflorescence bearing about 8000 white blossoms.
52.       Largest leaf (in diameter)	Victoria amazonica (V. regia or amazon lily; 5-6 ft diameter)
53.       Largest Limb	Arm Tree - Atwell Mill, East Fork Grove - 12.8 feet (3.9 m) in diameter
54.       Largest number of flowers	Talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera is about 10 m tall with millions of flowers per inflorescence.
55.       Largest orchid	Grammatophyllum speciosum
56.       Largest ovule	Cycas thourasii
57.       Largest pollen grain (in diameter)	Mirabilis (4’O’ clock plant); 250 µm in diameter
58.       Largest pteridophyte	Alsophila, Cyathea (Tree ferna)
59.       Largest seed	Lodoicea maldivica or double coconut (native of Seychelles). Single seed 12 inch (30 cm) long weighing 18 kg.
60.       Largest seed cones	A gymnosperm, Lepidozamia about 0.9 m long and weighing about 45 kg.
61.       Largest sperm	Cycas
62.       Largest sperm of plant	Zamia roezhii (0.4 mm). Visible to naked eyes and has several spiral bands of 20,000 to 40,000 cilia.
63.       Largest spreading fungi	Armillaria fungus. Single thallus can spread to area of about 100 acres of forest land.
64.       Largest spreading tree	Ficus benghalensis (Banyan)
65.       Largest tree (Gymnosperm)	Sequoia gigantea ( Giant red wood; about 13-16 m in diameter)
66.       Largest tree bearing fruit	Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllum is about 3 ft in size weighing 34 kg. the fruits are known to develop directly on tree trunks called cauliflory.
67.       Largest undivided leaves	Amazonian palm, Manicaria saccifera has leaves about 30 ft long.
68.       Largest water storage tree	African plant baobab, Adansonia digitata has the capacity to store 30,000 gallons of water.
69.       Largest winged seed	The climbing gourd, Alsomitra macrocarpa
70.       Largest worst smelling blossoms	Malaysian corpse floral arum, Amorphophallus titanum
71.       Lightest wood	Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale)
72.       Longest creeper	Elephant creeper (Entada pursaethia)
73.       Longest fibre	Linum usitatissimum (Flax or alsi)
74.       Longest leaf	Raphia vinifera (50 ft)
75.       Longest lifespan	Larrea tridentata (South West California, USA, 11,300 yrs)
76.       Longest plant cell	Fibre cell of Boehmeria nivea (ramie; about 55 cm in length)- Sclerenchyma fibres
77.       Longest plant embryo	Lodoicea maldivica or double coconut
78.       Longest pollen grain	Zostera (2500 µm long)
79.       Longest style	Maize (Zea mays)
80.       Longest travelling seeds	Seeds of Entida gigas are thrown miles away by bursting pods.
81.       Major source of sugar	Beet root (Beta vulgaris). Provide 60% of total sugar
82.       Maximum fruits are provided by family	Rutaceae
83.       Maximum life span of a tree	Macrozamia (10,000 yrs); Dracaena (8000 yrs)
84.       Maximum longevity in a seed	Nelumbo (lotus), about 1000 yrs
85.       Maximum number of chromosomes in Angiosperm	Poa litorosa (2n= 266)
86.       Maximum number of chromosomes in plants	Ophioglossum reticulatum (2n= 1262)
87.       Maximum ovules per locule in the ovary	Solanaceae
88.       Maximum vegetables are provided by family	Solanaceae
89.       Minimum number of chromosomes in Angiosperm	Haplopappus gracilis (2n=4)
90.       Minimum number of chromosomes in plants	Mucor (2n=2)
91.       Most advanced family	Compositae (in dicots) and Graminae (in monocots)
92.       Most Dangerous Tree	The Manchineel Tree of the Caribbean coast and the Florida Everglades is a species that secretes an exceptionally poisonous and acid sap. Upon contact to the skin, a break out of blisters would occur. In the occasions where there is contact to the eye, a person can be blinded, and a bite of its fruit causes blistering and severe pain. This tree has been feared ever since the Spanish explorers came to the Americas in the 16th century.
93.       Most durable wood	Tectonia grandis (Teak)
94.       Most Massive Tree	The "Lindsey Creek Tree", a Coast Redwood with a minimum trunk volume of 90,000 cubic feet and a minimum total mass of 3630 tons was the most massive known tree until it blew over in a storm in 1905. The most massive living tree is "General Sherman", a giant sequoia found in the Sequoia National Park in California. It is 275 feet tall with a girth of 102 feet and 8 inches.
95.       Most painful spines	The trichomes of true nettle, Urtica dioica (Bitchu butti) is rich in chemicals acetyl choline, histamine and hydroxytryptamins causing deadliest skin reactions to animals. The apex of trichome is siliceous which breaks open in our skin
96.       Most poisonous fungi	Amanita phalloides
97.       Most spreading plant	Gaylussacia brachyera
98.       Oldest cultivated crop	Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
99.       Oldest living fossil	Ginkgo biloba. 1,50,000 centuries ago.
100.    Oldest plant clone	Lomaticia Tasmania has adult sterile triploid plant incapable of producing seeds. These plants have been estimated to be 43,000 years old and reproducing only of vegetatively by suckers.
101.    Oldest tree	Larrea tridentata (S.W California; 11,300 yrs); The Mein Yuch, Pinus longaeva (sleeping moon; 4128 yrs). Found in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in California, the oldest tree recognized is a Redwood known as Eternal God. The tree is believed to be 12,000 years old, although it is argued as being only 7,000 years old, which still makes it the oldest.
102.    Oldest viable seed	Arctic lupine (Lupinus arcticus). Discovered from lemming burrow in frozen arctic tundra. 10,000 yrs old. It is now germinated and flowered by scientists.
103.    Plant having most beautiful flowers	Flame amherstia
104.    Sharpest spines	Opuntia bigelovii (Jumping cholla) has sharpest spines causing deadly pain as they break down in our skin after piercing.
105.    Slowest Growing Tree	A White Cedar located in the Great Lakes area of Canada, has only grown to less than 4 inches tall during its 155 years.
106.    Smallest acellular organism and plant	Mycoplasma gallisepticum (PPLO)
107.    Smallest algae	Chlamydomonas (green algae)
108.    Smallest angiosperm	Lemna (Duckweed)
109.    Smallest angiospermic parasite	Arceuthobium minutissimum (stem parasite of Pinus excelsa)
110.    Smallest archegonium	In gymnosperms
111.    Smallest bryophyte	Zoopsis (microscopic), ephimerum
112.    Smallest chromosome	A fungus (0.025 µm)
113.    Smallest flower	Wolffia microscopica (W. arrhiza; 0.1 mm)- Angiospermic
114.    Smallest flowering plant	A rootless angiosperm, Wolffia globossa can fit into an eye of an ordinary sewing needle and is 0.6 mm and 0.3 mm wide. The plant is 1,65,000 times shorter than tallest Eucalyptus.
115.    Smallest fruit	Wolffia arrhiza. Weighing only 70 micrograms.
116.    Smallest fungi	Yeast (Saccharomyces)
117.    Smallest gametophytic plant	Chlamydomonas
118.    Smallest gymnosperm	Zamia pygmia
119.    Smallest gymnosperm	Zamia roezlii is about 0.4 mm in length just visble to an unaided eye.
120.    Smallest leaves	Scale like leaf called prophyllum is just 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm in length belonging to Wolffia bovealis and Azolla filicules (water fern) leaves are just 1 mm long.
121.    Smallest monocot plant	Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrops)
122.    Smallest orchid	Bulbophyllum minutissimum
123.    Smallest pollen grain	Myosotis (2.5-3.5 µm)- Orchid
124.    Smallest pteridophyte	Azolla (water fern)
125.    Smallest seeds	Coral root orchid, Corallorhiza maculata has a seed weighing about one 35 millionth of an ounce (1/35,000,000 micrograms). Some seeds are just 1/300th of an inch whereas our vision 20/20 is just under 0.1 mm. they appear as dust particles.
126.    Smallest tree	Salix (dwarf willow), found in Tundra region
127.    Strongest gymnosperm wood (soft wood)	Cedrus deodara
128.    Tallest and fastest growing bamboo	Bambusa arundinaceae
129.    Tallest Tree	Tallest gymnosperm: Sequoia sempervirens (coast red wood; about 111.25 m height. Found in red wood park of California) Tallest or largest angiosperm: Eucalyptus ragnans (114 m) Tallest monocot plant: Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)