501 Facts Factory: Amazing Plants and Trees of the World

Book excerpt: Bamboo is the fastest-growing woody plant. It can grow about 35 inches in a day. In Richfield, Utah, there is a grove of around 47,000 aspens that all originate from a single male parent aspen. Manchineel is one of the world’s most dangerous trees. Standing underneath it in rain can result in painful blisters! Rafflesia, the biggest flower in the world, can weigh up to 11 kilos. It has no leaves, stem or roots! Plants and trees give us the breath of life and this book takes you on a fun, fact-packed trip through the most intriguing and fascinating of these. A tree that has fruit growing on its trunk, an orchid that looks like a monkey's face, a seed that can weigh as much as 20 kilos, cactus that ‘wanders’... our world is filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful vegetation! From the tiniest mosses to gigantic species that tower above us, from insect-eating flowers to trees that drip poison, from the oldest plant fossils to the latest hybrids, from gardens and groves to forests and jungles, from the most useful to the deadliest, Amazing Plants and Trees of the World covers a range of fascinating flora that will make you go ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’! With bite-sized text and photographs, this well-researched volume gives you an informative and entertaining peek into of the most interesting facts about plants and trees worldwide. What are you waiting for? Step into the 501 Facts Factory for a whirlwind ‘green’ tour!