Underground Forest. Photo credit Rachel Sussman Oldest Living Things. 13,000 year old. Dwarf mobola(and others) Latin parinari capensis
These woody plants hide underground!!!
This plant structure in South Africa has adapted to its fire prone environment in an amazing way. Many species that live in the bushveld ecoregion here have grown thick bark that will protect them from the fires that often roar across the ground.
In contrast, the underground forests have migrated most of their mass underground! All you can see is what we would call the crown of the tree peeking up out of the surface. The soil is a natural firewall. The firre will burn off the treetop, leaving the rest of the underground tree intact below.
These organisms grow clonally. At best estimate, the oldest individuals are dated at 11,000 BCE, give or take a few hundred years or so. It is most likely they could be older, since their latitude most likely precludes their exposure to an Ice Age.
There are many of these throughout sub Saharan Africa. Humans only discovered them due to their( to humans) “nuisance value”. Many are poisonous to livestock, and they also get in the way of road building. They are very hard to unearth.
Very little is known about them. Farmers have discovered how to poison them. Perhaps our species is better at killing than learning. There are many of them now, but once destroyed, we would have to wait 13,000 years for them to grow back.
I am inspired by these, their tenacity, will to live. The imagery definitely belongs in my work.
