In Utah there’s a grove of quaking aspens called Pando, which is Latin for “I spread.” It looks like a forest of about 47,000 separate trees. But genetic testing has shown every single trunk is a clone, connected by one enormous underground root network and all sharing the same DNA.
That makes Pando one of the largest living organisms on Earth by area, covering around 43 hectares (about 60 football pitches). For a long time scientists guessed the root system might be 80,000 years old. A 2024 genetic study narrowed that down: Pando is most likely between about 12,000 and 37,000 years old - still ancient, but younger than the older guesses. Individual trunks above ground only live 100-150 years before being replaced.
Sadly, Pando is in trouble. Deer and elk munch the young shoots before they can grow up, so new trunks aren’t replacing old ones. The world’s largest organism may be quietly dying because nobody is keeping the hungry herbivores out.
