Utah Forest Named Pando Is Perhaps the Oldest and Largest Organism on the Planet

This may look like your typical forest. But there’s a lot more here than meets the eye. That’s because these woods are actually one single giant organism.

At about 80,000 years old, it’s one of the oldest, largest organisms on earth.

It’s called Pando, which is Latin for “I Spread,” and the forest, located in Utah, does indeed spread over 100 acres.

Pando is also known as The Trembling Giant, and it consists of over 40,000 aspen trees that all share a single root system. And each tree is a clone of the other.

Forestry experts say The Trembling Giant has gotten smaller in the past half-century, in part due to a changing habitat caused by climate change.

Though Pando is protected, scientists say its system could collapse in the next couple of decades.

The Forest Service is working with other groups to study Pando in the hopes of stemming its decline. Because something this big, old, and beautiful should be enjoyed by many generations to come.

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