Ancient Tree Ferns Found Thriving in Hidden Chinese Forest 🌿
Deep in the mountains of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, scientists have discovered something amazing! Over 3,000 ancient tree ferns, called Alsophila spinulosa, are growing happily in a hidden forest reserve. 🌲
These special plants are like living fossils because they lived during the time of the dinosaurs! 🦕 Back then, dinosaurs might have even eaten them. Isn’t that cool?
A wildlife filmmaker named Zhou Baolin found these prehistoric plants while looking for places to shoot a nature movie near De’an Town. “I thought these tall ferns looked like the ones I’d seen on TV,” he said. So, he told the scientists about them.
The ferns live 1,500 meters up in the mountains, creating a beautiful green “cathedral” under the tall trees. Some of these ferns are as tall as a small building, reaching up to three meters high! 🌳
Unlike most ferns you might see, which are small, these tree ferns can grow up to 15 meters tall—that’s about as tall as a five-story building! They don’t have flowers or fruits. Instead, they make tiny spores on the back of their leaves to grow new plants.
Nowadays, the local people use the starch from the fern’s stem to make wine. Because these plants are so special and rare, they are protected by the government.
Now, the authorities are planning to create a protected area around these amazing ferns to keep them safe. They will also use monitoring devices to watch over them.
Isn’t nature incredible? Maybe one day you’ll discover something amazing in the forest too! 🌳✨
Reference(s):
In pictures: Ancient tree ferns thrive in hidden Chinese forest
cgtn.com
