Plants were indeed the first creatures on our planet. These were blue-green algae, which, according to scientists, created the first atmosphere of the planet, saturated it with oxygen, created the conditions for the existence of subsequent evolutionary experiments. They remained in our world and today, if desired, blue-green algae, or rather, their modern descendants, can be grown and observed.
But they are far from the only plants that can be grown today. There are other species that are worth paying attention to.
The most ancient contemporaries
The most ancient plants were found in China during excavations. Their age may be more than 635 million years. Scientists determined this fact by the depth of the layers. But there are also living modern plants that have reached our days from distant eras. First of all, this is Antarctic moss, which is 5,500 years old, and whose ancestors are 43,600 years old, and even more - according to other tests, the age of similar plants was more than 100,000 years. Then humanity had just begun to leave the African continent in search of new lands.
Mosses are not the only ancient plants that have survived to this day. It is also worth bearing in mind the poplars. unique plants this species can be found today - in the United States there is a colony of poplars, which is an integral organism of 50 thousand plants. They share a common root system that allows them to constantly reproduce, and given fact makes the plants within the colony immortal, because stepchildren have the same genetic data. The small forest is thought to be around 800,000 years old and all of these plants are descended from a single ancestor.
Other ancient but modern plants
It is believed that the most ancient cedar on our planet is cryptomeria. One of the greatest plants of this species grows in Japan, on Mount Yakushima, and has a height of about 25 meters. The trunk of the plant in girth is 16 meters. This plant has an age of 7 thousand years, although someone claims that the cedar could grow like this in just a couple of millennia. But still, which tree can be considered the most ancient on the planet?
In relatively recent times, experts discovered an old Canadian spruce. This relatively young-looking tree turned out to be a shoot of an older plant that grew here in the past, and was at least 9.550 thousand years old. Since a young plant has the same genetic code, it can be considered not a descendant, but a continuation of the same plant, and therefore it has the status of the oldest single spruce in the world. Next to it, but at some distance, there are other similar clones with an age of 5-9 thousand years.
Ancient trees that are not clones
Life ended in the 60s unique pine named Prometheus, whose age was about 5 thousand years. But there is a tree with the name Methuselah, which is almost 3 thousand years old, and this pine is today the oldest on the planet. At least that's how it's supposed to be. According to the antiquity of its origin, the exceptional tree is followed by Firzoya cypress, whose age will soon reach 3700 years. This plant lives among a group of no less ancient individuals with an age of more than 2 thousand years, in a reserve located in southern Chile.
And in Atacama, one of the deserts of the planet, yaret grows - the bush is more than 2 thousand years old. The plant is a close relative of parsley. In Wales, there is a yew that is about 4,000 years old.
Why do some plants live in groups?
In addition to such a phenomenon as symbiosis, the group “residence” of plants can be forced by their origin from a single shoot. Accordingly, those plants that do not reproduce from one shoot or rhizome do not live in groups. If plants have a tendency to emit seeds in a heap, their descendants can also live in groups. So there is no mystery in this.
Thus, very ancient plants live on the planet, clones of old trees, or they themselves. Modern methods allows you to date the time of their appearance. Plants appeared on the planet first, before other creatures. And the group existence of some species is connected with their mode of reproduction.
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Our planet has not always been green. A long time ago, when life was just emerging, the land was empty and lifeless - the first forms chose the oceans as their habitat. But gradually the earth's surface also began to be mastered by various creatures. The first plants on Earth are also the earliest inhabitants of land. What were the ancestors of modern representatives of the flora?
Photo: pikabu.ruSo, imagine the Earth 420 million years ago, in an era called the Silurian period. This date was not chosen by chance - it was at this time, scientists believe, that plants finally began to conquer the land.
For the first time, the remains of cooksonia were discovered in Scotland (the first representative of the terrestrial flora was named after Isabella Cookson, a famous paleobotanist). But scientists suggest that it was distributed throughout the globe.
It was not so easy to get out of the waters of the oceans and start developing the land. To do this, the plants had to literally rebuild the entire body: to acquire a shell resembling a cuticle that prevents drying out, and to acquire special stomata, with which it was possible to regulate evaporation and absorb substances necessary for life.
Cooksonia, which is a thin green stems, not exceeding five centimeters in height, was considered one of the most developed plants. But the atmosphere of the Earth and its inhabitants were rapidly changing, and the most ancient representative of the flora was losing ground more and more. On this moment the plant is considered extinct.
Photo: stihi.ru The remains of the nematothallus do not even remotely resemble plants - they look more like shapeless black spots. But despite the strange appearance, in terms of development, this plant has gone far ahead of its comrades in its habitat. The fact is that the cuticle of the nematothallus is already more similar to the parts of existing plants - it consisted of formations resembling modern cells, which is why it was called pseudocellular. It should be noted that in other species this shell looked just like a continuous film.
Nematothallus has given a lot of food for thought to the scientific world. Some scientists attributed it to red algae, others were inclined to believe that they had a lichen in front of them. And until now, the mystery of this ancient organism has not been solved.
Photo: amgpgu.ru Rinia and almost all other ancient plants with a vascular structure are classified as rhinophytes. Representatives of this group have not grown on Earth for a long time. However, this fact does not at all prevent scientists from studying these living creatures that once dominated land - a lot of fossils found in many parts of the world make it possible to judge how appearance, and about the structure of similar plants.
Rhyniophytes have several important features, which allow us to assert: these living beings are completely different from their descendants. First, their stem was not covered with soft bark: scaly processes grew on it. Secondly, rhinophytes reproduced exclusively with the help of spores, which were formed in special organs called sporangia.
But the most important difference is that these plants did not have a root system as such. Instead, there were root formations covered with "hairs" - rhizoids, with the help of which rhinia absorbed water and substances necessary for life.
Photo: bio.1september.ru This plant was recently considered a representative of the animal world. The fact is that its remains - small, rounded in shape - were originally mistaken for eggs of frogs or fish, algae, or even eggs of long-extinct crustacean scorpions. The spores of the parka, found in 1891, put an end to the misconceptions.
The plant lived on our planet about 400 million years ago. This time refers to the beginning of the Devonian period.
Photo: bio.1september.ru The remains of pahiteki, as well as the fossils found parka, are balls small size(the largest one found has a diameter of 7 millimeters). Quite little is known about this plant: scientists managed to establish only the fact that it consisted of tubules located radially and converging in the center where the nucleus was located.
This plant is a dead end branch of the development of flora, in fact, like parks and rhinia. It was not possible to establish for certain what was the impetus for their emergence, and why they died out. The only reason, according to scientists, is the development of vascular plants, which simply replaced their less developed relatives.
The plants that got out on land chose a completely different path of development. It was thanks to them that the animal world was born and, accordingly, a reasonable form of life appeared - man. And who knows what our planet would look like now if the rhinii, parkas and cooksonia had not decided to explore the land? ..
That's all we have. We are very glad that you have looked at our site and spent some time enriching yourself with new knowledge.
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The oldest plant on the planet at the moment is the common spruce - Old Tikko, it is 9550 years old.
In Brazil, the oldest non-coniferous tree grows - the Patriarch of the Forest, it is already over 3000 years old.
In the United States, the Mammoth Tree grows in the California National Park - General Sherman, who is more than 2500 years old, in addition, the mass of the plant is 2000 tons, and the height is 85 meters. This tree is recognized as the largest on Earth.
Blue-green algae. These representatives of the plant world are already many billions of years old. They live, as a rule, in fresh water bodies, but they can live on land and in salt water and even in hot springs. These plants were the first photosynthesizing, releasing oxygen. It is thanks to these representatives of the flora, according to scientists, that the composition of the Earth's atmosphere once changed.
Selaginella. This plant belongs to the oldest group - club mosses. It looks like a fern. Now there are several about 300 species of Selaginella, and some of them can be grown at home.
Ginkgo. This plant is found on city streets in Japan and China. feature given tree is an interesting form of leaves - in the form of a small fan. According to scientists, these trees existed about 250 million years ago.
Metasequoia glyptostroboid. Ancient coniferous tree. Until recently, this species was considered extinct, but in 1943 a living tree was found in China. Analysis of the wood showed that the appearance of trees of this species has not changed at all since the time of the dinosaurs.
Sequoiadendron giant. The tree reaches 100 meters in height and lives for about 4000 years. There are only about 500 living trees left in the world. These giants grow in the United States.
Wollemia. A small tree that looks like a Christmas tree. However, these trees grew on our planet about 200 million years ago. Interestingly, the plant itself was discovered only 20 years ago.
Magnolia. One of the oldest plants on Earth, which boasts its most beautiful flowers. Scientists believe that this species is at least 150 million years old. Magnolias are very whimsical. In total, there are about 120 species, of which only 25 species tolerate frost and can be grown in temperate climates.
Actinidia. Plants known to us for their fruits are kiwi. This plant is approximately 65 million years old. It appeared on Earth simultaneously with chestnuts, plane trees and ficuses.
Almost any person perceives the events of centuries ago as a fascinating fairy tale, not believing in the reality of what happened thousands of years ago. judge existence. ancient world It is possible according to the evidence found in different parts of the planet. One of them is the most ancient plants on Earth, some specimens of which have successfully survived to today, having witnessed the birth and decline of civilizations, having survived more than one historical era.
Modern representatives of ancient times
The most ancient plants on Earth are algae discovered during excavations in China. Their approximate age, according to scientists, is from 580 to 635 million years. Great minds were able to determine its depth by the depth of the rock layers with the brown remains found, resembling branches and plates.
On almost every continent, the most ancient plants on Earth have been preserved - silent witnesses of past eras. These are the Antarctic moss, which is 5,500 years old, the plant Lomatia tasmanica, which has an estimated age of 43,600 years, the Mediterranean grass, Posidonia oceanic, which is 100,000 years old. By the way, it was back in those days when the ancestors from Africa began to explore other lands.
The most ancient plants of the planet are a colony of poplars in the USA, Utah.
50 thousand genetically similar trees with a common root system make up an integral organism that constantly reproduces and in this way ensures its own immortality. The approximate age of this society is more than 800,000 years.
Cryptomeria - the oldest cedar of the planet
On the highest mountain of the Japanese island of Yakushima, a huge cedar grows - cryptomeria, whose height reaches 25 meters, and the girth is 16 meters. This ancient giant is 7000 years old. Some scientists claim that the age of the handsome green man is 2.5 times less. Tourists rarely visit such remote and deaf places, allowing the coniferous old-timer to humbly observe the passage of time.
And yet: what plant is now the most ancient on our earth? Not so long ago, a group of specialists discovered growing in Sweden
A slender and young-looking tree turned out to be a new shoot of an ancient progenitor that grew in the same place and numbered about 9550 years. Today it is the oldest free-standing spruce on the planet. Not far away, other clones of trees rise, the roots of which are from 5000 to 9000 years old.
Famous old-timer pines
The fate of a pine named Prometheus, an old-timer from non-cloned trees, cut down in the 60s of the last century with light hand some American student. After the death, the age of the tree was accurately determined, which amounted to 5000 years. The pine tree was a historical landmark of the National Park
Another was discovered in California in the Inyo National Forest. In a study conducted in 1957, it was found that the pine appeared on earth in 2832, that is, at that time the age of the tree was 4789 years. It was named Methuselah - in honor of one of the biblical characters who lived 969 years. Today, after the death of Prometheus, this pine is the most ancient plant on Earth. Its location is securely hidden among the rest of the trees, which are also about 2000 years old. The tree is carefully guarded to avoid attempts of vandalism.
The oldest plant on Earth (after the long-lived Methuselah) is cypress fitzroya.
Her age was determined in 1993 by counting annual rings and amounted to 3622 years. It grows in a coastal reserve in southern Chile. In the Atacama Desert of the same country, the yareta bush, a relative of modern parsley, has been growing for more than 2000 years.
Great Britain's historical pride
In the courtyard of the parish church of the village of Llangerny in Wales, you can admire a huge yew tree, numbering 4000 years. He was able to live such a long life thanks to new shoots growing even at the time of the death of the main trunk. In June 2002, during the celebration of the "Golden Jubilee" of Queen Elizabeth II, this historical monument was recognized as a national heritage of Great Britain.
Baobab - a bright representative of ancient plants
The most ancient plants on Earth are baobabs. A striking representative of this type of tree is the giant growing in Africa, which consists of two parts with large cavities inside each. The diameter of the baobab is 10.6 meters with a girth of the trunk of 47 meters and a height of 22 meters.
The age of the tree identified is 6,000 years; that is, the tree is older than the Egyptian pyramids. The giant hollow found inside it has been successfully settled down for many generations. There have been several fires there. Capable of accommodating 20-30 people inside different times it was used by people as a temple, bus stop, prison, water storage and public toilet. Its modern purpose is a cozy bar-pub. Being such a beloved and sought after tree, the baobab continues to grow rapidly; in its crown lives a huge number of different birds.
Negligence of man in relation to nature
The relationship "man - nature" is far from ideal, and the initiator of the negative is mostly the first side, dooming them with an irresponsible and conniving attitude. ancient plants Earth to extinction. So, in order to build roads and organize fields, the Underground Forest, located in South Africa. Representing a massive root system that draws nutrients and water deep underground, it was a guaranteed protection against possible forest fires.
In Florida, with the light hand of a man burned down unique cypress, whose age reached 3500 years.
One of the oldest trees in the world, it was named Senator in honor of Moses Overstreet, the senator of the Florida legislature who donated land with cypress to Seminole County to create a natural park. Initially, the height of the Senator was 50 meters; in 1925, due to a hurricane that hit, the tree lost its top and decreased to 38 meters.
The first representatives of the flora appeared on the planet more than 2 billion years ago, in an era that researchers call Archaea. Consider the most ancient plants on Earth - what they looked like and what role they played in the evolutionary process.
Archean era
This period is separated from us by billions of years, so the data on what living organisms existed at that time are very conditional and often have the character of hypotheses. Scientists have little material for research, since the representatives of this ancient time did not leave any traces behind them. In this geological era, there was no oxygen in the atmosphere, so only those organisms that did not need it could survive. Features of the plant world of the Archean era are as follows:
- The most ancient plants on Earth are considered to be blue-green algae, the fact that they already existed is evidenced by organic substances - marble, limestone.
- Later, colonial algae appeared.
- The next stage in the development of flora is the appearance of photosynthetic organisms. They took in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and gave off oxygen.
It can be concluded that algae are the most ancient plants of the Earth, their role was more than significant: it was these tiny representatives of the flora that managed to fill the atmosphere with oxygen necessary for life and made it possible for further evolution. Living organisms were able to leave the sea and move to land.
Proterozoic
The next stage in the development of the most ancient plants on Earth is the Proterozoic era, it was then that many varieties of algae originated:
- red;
- brown;
- green.
It was during this era that a clear division of organisms into plants and animals occurred. The former could synthesize oxygen, while the latter did not possess this ability.
Paleozoic
The most ancient plants on Earth are seaweeds, it is to them that we owe the appearance of the atmosphere, oxygenated. They made our world habitable. In the first two periods of the Paleozoic, the flora was represented exclusively by algae, but other plants gradually appeared:
- During the Silurian period, spore plants were formed. Soil appeared, so they could grow on land.
- Rhinophytes, the simplest representatives of the fauna, arose in Delour.
- Then there are club mosses and great-ferns, gymnosperms.
- During the Carboniferous, horsetail-like, ferns are born.
The first forests of huge horsetails, ferns and club mosses appear on the planet. IN carboniferous period The highest flowering is reached by club mosses and calamites, which often towered 30-40 meters above the ground. Gradually dying off, these plants formed reserves of coal, which mankind uses to this day. The most ancient plants on Earth played essential role, giving us a valuable mineral. Without coal, the development of industry would not have been possible.
In the Permian period, some coniferous species are formed.
Exit of plants to land: features of the process
The most ancient plants on Earth that left the water element and moved to land, as researchers believe, were algae and lichens. They did not leave any traces behind them, and conclusions about their existence are made only by indirect signs:
- The formation of rocks. This process is possible only with the participation of living organisms.
- The process of soil formation in water could not go on - this indicates that the plants have already climbed to the surface of the earth.
- Now fossil-like algae are found on land in the form of plaque on stones and tree bark, in conditions of increased importance. Therefore, the researchers suggest that in ancient periods they could also adapt to life outside the sea.
In the later periods of the Paleozoic, land plants which have not reached our days. Only their petrified spores have survived. They are very similar to the spores of liverworts, modern plants related to mosses. It can be concluded that the most ancient plants on Earth are mosses, while horsetails "came" out of the sea and settled on land during the Late Paleozoic.
First forests
The first representatives of the flora preferred to settle in damp places, so fern forests were often buried in water. The oldest forests were shallow water bodies, similar to swamps, but devoid of a peat layer. It was here that giant ferns grew. Such an ecosystem is often referred to as a forest-reservoir.
First gymnosperms
The most ancient plants on Earth reproduced by spores, which were very vulnerable and could die in adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, the appearance of gymnosperms was the most important step on the path of evolution. Seeds had a number of advantages over spores:
- they had a nutrient supply;
- could survive adverse conditions;
- not afraid of exposure to UV rays and drying;
Mesozoic
At this time, the most important processes take place:
- formation of continents;
- the birth of lakes and seas;
- climate change.
The plant world is also undergoing significant changes: giant ferns and club mosses are dying out, and gymnosperms of coniferous trees are spreading. Plant imprints with angiosperm-like features have been found in beds from the early Cretaceous and Jurassic. These were primitive and few forms. Angiosperms became widespread in the Middle Cretaceous, about a hundred million years ago. However, by the end of the period, they had become the dominant form of plant life on Earth. The plant world became more and more similar to what we are used to.
Features of the flora of the Mesozoic era are as follows:
- The appearance of vessels in plants, the functions of which were to conduct water and nutrients.
- A reproductive organ is formed - a flower. Through pollination by insects flowering plants quickly spread across the continents.
- The predecessors of modern cypresses and pines appear.
We examined which plants are the most ancient on Earth, traced the main paths of the evolutionary development of flora over geological epochs. Despite the fact that the first algae did not leave any traces behind them, their role is enormous: they were able to fill the atmosphere of the planet with oxygen and made possible way out living organisms on land.
