64 Most Mind-blowing Facts About Plants and Trees

There are still a lot of interesting and mysterious things to be discovered in the world of plants and trees. But what are the most mind-blowing facts about plants and trees?

The Earth’s ecosystem has been enormously influenced by plants and trees. They provide us food and oxygen that are necessary for survival. And since the first humans on earth, they have been supporting us and other living things to thrive and survive. 

Plants and trees are everywhere, that is what makes them so interesting. I bet you are now very close to something that is made out of a plant or a tree... Let me know what it is in the comment! Here are a couple of mind-blowing facts about plants and trees, enjoy!

Mind-blowing facts about plants and trees:

• Trees can live up to thousands of years, they have seen the rising and falling of different empires. 
• Trees can store thousands of gallons of water in them. 
• Some trees have lived up to 7000 years in different countries. In the Philippines, there is the Rainbow Eucalyptus. In Socotra Island, they have the Umbrella Tree. 
• The tree Rainbow Eucalyptus is multi-colored. 
• Some trees bleed when cut.
• Plants can hear from you. In recent studies, they are found to have healthier growth when complemented with positive things every day than with saying negative comments about them.
• Trees in the arctic are frozen, where temperature can get as low as --40°C.
• Eating potatoes with skins is healthier because it is where all the vitamins are stored. 
• Around 2000 different types of plants are used by humans to make food. 
• Bamboo is the fastest woody plant to grow in the world. It can increase its height by 35 inches (3 ft.) in a single day. 
• The origin of the word pineapple came from a European traveler who thought that the fruit combined the looks of pinecones but with the flesh like an apple. 
• The Elephant grass in Africa is named after the animal because it has a height of 4.5 meters that even elephants can hide in it. 
• The average tree size can be used to make approximately 170, 000 pencils. 
• Cranberries have small pockets of air inside, which make them bounce and float in water. 

• 85 percent of plant life lives under the ocean.
• Bananas ha a natural chemical that can make people feel happy.
• Banana is the Arabic word for finger. 
• The country of Brazil is named after a tree.
• The Amazon rainforest produces half of the world’s oxygen supply.
• 91 percent of Cabbage’s content is water.
• The California redwood is the tallest and living organism in the world. 
• Apple, potatoes, and onions taste the same. To prove this, eat them while your nose is closed. 
• Carrots were originally color purple. 
• Epiphytes are plants that grow on a tree and other plants. They have roots that never reached the ground. 
• In the 1600s, tulips were more expensive than gold. It was the era called the tulip mania and cause the Dutch economy to fall. 
• Ginkgo Biloba, commonly known as ginkgo, is one of the oldest living tree species that has fossils dating back 270 million years ago. 
• Apples have 25 percent air that makes it float on water. 
• Peaches, pears, strawberries, and apples are members of the rose family.
• Cucumber is fruit and not a vegetable because it has seeds in the center. 
• Caffeine works as a pesticide in a coffee plant. 
• Oak trees can only produce acorns when they are 50 years old. 
• A sunflower looks like one big flower, but it has hundreds of flowers called floret, which ripen to become seeds. 

• The tears triggered during cutting an onion are caused by the sulfuric acid that is present in them. 
• The tallest tree currently living is the Sequoia sempervirens, which measures 115.85 meters (380 feet 1 inch) as of 2017.
• The vanilla flavoring comes from the pod of an orchid, Vanilla planifolia. 
• About 7000 years ago, the first batch of potatoes was cultivated. 
• Pope Nicholas in the Vatican City founded the first certified botanical garden in 1278 AD.
• Well-maintained trees and shrubs can increase property value by up to 14%.
• There are over 391,000 identified plant species and about 80,000 species of edible plants.
• Strawberry is the only fruit that bears its seeds outside. Its average seeds count to 200. 
• Onions act as a sedative. If you eat lots of them, it will make you sleep. 
• A plant called “Mother-in-Law’s Tongue”, or “Dumb Cane”, has a sap that is so toxic that it can paralyze your vocal cords.
• The Skunk Cabbage is one of the few plants that generates its own heat, 30°C to 36°C (86°F to 96°F)  on average, much higher than the outside air temperature. This allows the plant to melt through the snow and flower while snow is still on the ground.
• The smell of freshly cut grass is actually a chemical “distress” call used by plants to beg nearby animals to save them from attack.

• Playing classical music to plants helps them to grow faster. This was proven by a team of South Korean researchers in which they found that plant’s gene expression responds to sound waves.
•  There is a plant that mimics the anus of a dead animal, in order to attract flies for pollination (the Dead Horse lily or Helicodiceros muscivorus).
• Plants make caffeine to defend themselves against pests. Caffeine is toxic to birds, dogs, cats, and has a pronounced adverse effect on mollusks, various insects, and spiders.
• Before trees, Earth was home to fungi that grew 26 feet tall.
• A large oak tree can consume about 100 gallons of water per day, and a giant sequoia can drink up to 500 gallons daily.
• Cottonwood seeds are able to stay airborne for days, which is much longer than any other type of seed.
• A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four!
• In 2012, Florida meth-addict Sarah Barnes accidentally burned down the world's fifth-oldest tree when she tried to smoke in the hollow of the tree. Named Senator, the ancient tree was 3,500 years old.
• The most poisonous tree in the world is the manchineel tree, which is native to Florida. If eaten, its fruit can kill a person. Additionally, standing under the tree during a rainstorm can cause blisters, and the smoke from a burning tree can blind you.
• At an astounding 38 feet in diameter, the tree with the widest girth in the world is the Arbol del Tule, a Montezuma cypress located in Mexico.
• There are 3.04 trillion trees on earth or about 422 for each person.
• According to the botanical definition, palms are not trees but large, woody herbs.

• About 15 billion trees are lost each year due to deforestation, forest management, and changes in land use.
• Pine trees grow on six of seven continents, with Antarctica being the only one left out.
• A mature tree removes almost 70 times more pollution than a newly planted tree.
• Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rainwater and protecting aquifers and watersheds.
• One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.
• An average American uses about 750 pounds of paper every year, and 95% of homes are built using wood. That means each person uses the equivalent of one 100 foot tall, 16-inch diameter, tree every year for their paper and wood product needs.
• The average tree in an urban/city area has a life expectancy of only 8 years.
• About one-third of the United States of America is covered by forests.

Why are Plants and Trees Important?

Plants and trees are not just astounding in benefits, but also interesting in facts. They have lived longer than us and have been satisfying the needs of all organisms since then. Without them, we couldn’t have possibly lived and we wouldn’t have been able to maintain our ecosystem. 

More than the comfort of a place to live in, plants and trees are one of the main sources of food, which they have been providing us for survival. They are available and accessible to anyone. Without them, we could be missing a lot of nutrients that our body needs. And with this, we could be having diseases that no one could have cured. 

Aside from the food we eat, plants and trees are also the principal sources for a naturally-made medication. The practice of traditional medicine came from our ancestors and passed it to us so we can apply and improve it. The main source of this practice came from the natural resources that are available around them. Through years of experimenting, natural medication is becoming famous not just in rural places, but also in the urbanized community.

Many people have acknowledged the abilities of plants to cure diseases. Even scientists and physicians got hyped up out of their curiosity and started researching them. With this, various discoveries are unveiled that benefits the lives of many people. 

Plants and trees made it easier for humans and other organisms to live. Without them, there will be no balance in the world. They are more amazing and interesting than you think.