What is the world's smallest tree?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

There are many records in nature associated with trees. For example, in the Redwood National Park (USA, California), the tallest tree on the planet grows - a 114-meter sequoia. The thickest tree on earth is the Mexican cypress, which grows in the city of Santa Maria (Mexico, Oaxaca). The diameter of its trunk is 42 meters! And in the west of Sweden, an ancient spruce grows, whose age has exceeded 9500 years.

What is the smallest tree in the world? The photo, name and description of this plant is in the article.

Amazing plant

Dwarf willow (scientifically Salix Herbacea) is the smallest tree in the world. On average, its height is only two centimeters. But "giant" dwarf willows as much as seven centimeters high have also been found!

Externally, the trees are more like grass - on a thin, but elastic stalk, several shiny green leaves of a rounded shape are firmly held. Their diameter is one to two centimeters. Like all members of the willow family, Salix Herbaceahas men's and women's earrings, the men's are yellow and the women's are red.

The dwarf willow has a superficial root system, multiplies in the active soil layer.

Where it grows. Role in nature

The smallest tree in the world, the photo of which is in the article, grows in Greenland, Canada, on the northern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains at an altitude of one and a half thousand meters above sea level. These are quite harsh regions, so a tiny plant hides in moss, rocks, soil, hiding from the strongest winds and cold. The trees grow very close to each other, nestling with their trunks and thus retaining heat.

Often, next to Salix Herbacea, you can find polar, arctic and Magadan willow, which are quite a bit ahead of it in growth.

The smallest tree in the world plays a very important role in nature. In cold latitudes, it is food for many inhabitants of the north - insects, birds, deer. Its reserves practically do not run out, as the dwarf willow has the ability to recover perfectly and quickly after damage. Also, in the "thickets" of this plant, insects take shelter from the weather, and birds use the stems and leaves to build nests.

The Japanese learned how to grow the smallest tree in the world

In Japan, experts grow dwarf trees in flower pots. This is a complex technology that requires hard work, time and patience. Strictly speaking,a miniature creature is not the smallest tree in the world, as it is grown from layering of ordinary maples, beeches, pines, firs and other species. At the same time, special technologies for crown formation and root pruning, a hungry diet (depleted soil), limited watering and a tight container are used. In addition, the master throughout the life of a miniature tree must prune old branches, pinch new layers, remove unnecessary shoots and buds so that the plant does not waste nutrients on them. This technique is called bonsai.

In such harsh conditions, the plant literally survives, so preserving a miniature tree is a real art. In Japan, bonsai masters are valued on a par with eminent artists and architects.