Believe it or not, this sliver of an underwater seagrass pasture is all part of the same plant. In fact, scientists have declared it the largest single organism alive today, according to a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B in June. (It seized the Guinness World Record from a 4-square-mile mushroom in Oregon, affectionately dubbed the Humongous Fungus.) The seagrass, called Poseidon's ribbon weed, or Posidonia australis, resides in Western Australia's Shark Bay and stretches across 77 square miles - over three times larger than Manhattan. The plant germinated from a single seed 4,500 years ago and has been sprouting clonal offshoots ever since.
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