Giants of Nature: The Biggest Plants in the World | Free Documentary Shorts

Our first discovery in search of the largest plants in the world is the giant flower Rafflesia Arnoldii. We travel to Indonesia. Deep in the jungle in the region of Bengkulu, a two-hour flight from Jakarta, the world's largest flower is set to grow. In the city, we discover first indications. The gigantic flower is known here as the corpse lily. Is it dangerous? Later, we find out where the name comes from. We have arranged to meet Hang Holodini. Hello, I'm in charge of the Krapaisap Nature Reserve. The biologist and researcher knows the jungle like his own backyard. Once a week, Hang travels deep into the jungle to check on the Rafflesia Arnoldii population because the world's largest flower is endangered. The rainforest here is being cleared for coffee plantations. Hang is therefore trying to protect the giant flower. Without him, it would no longer exist in this area. The Rafflesia Arnoldii only grows in the subtropical latitudes around Indonesia and Thailand and is extremely rare. Last year, there was only one here. The cutting down of large rainforest trees is depriving the giant flower of its natural habitat. The Rafflesia has no roots but grows along such lianas. So we find them by looking for lianas in the trees and on the ground. The biggest flower isn't actually a flower but a parasite. It gets its nutrients from lianas or other plants. So the biggest flower in the world is a gigantic freeloader. Here's one at a very early stage and over there is one that's further developed. The giant flower takes seven months to grow. I think there's one down here. Yeah, come on. And indeed, in the middle of nowhere, we find the gigantic flower. A rare event because the Rafflesia Arnoldii only blooms for eight days. This is the red Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world with a one meter diameter. But the fragrance around this giant flower is bad. Within a 10 meter radius of the plant, there's a disgusting smell of decay. You can also find the Rafflesia by its smell. It smells like dead meat. It's a trick by the plant to attract flies. The flies are needed for pollination. The penetrating stench has earned this record plant the name corpse lily. The largest specimen found so far weighs over 11 kilograms. That's a world record. And it stinks to high heaven. Our next stop, the largest tree in the world. Its name, General Sherman. We fly to the USA. In the forests of northern California near the coast, trees grow that makes Germany's pine trees look like blades of grass. If such a tree gets in the way of a road, there are two options. Drive around it or through it. In this case, visitors to the car park have chosen the latter. Despite the tunnel, this redwood tree is very healthy. But what is the secret behind the gigantic growth of these trees? For the biologists among us, they are called sequoia sempervirens, or more commonly, the coastal redwood. They are several thousand years old and come from a time when the USA was inhabited only by Native Americans. But why do the giants grow over 100 meters high? Sheena Dihard and Vanessa Williams are very familiar with sequoias. These tree experts and their team are high up in the crowns of the redwoods every day to monitor the development of the ecosystem. And of course, what goes up must come down again somehow. An exciting job during which Vanessa and her team also let the tourists in on the secrets of the redwoods. We're in like a 400-year-old Christmas tree right now, so Merry Christmas. These used to be the tallest tree in the world. We log these trees a lot, use them for toothpicks, so they're no longer the tallest. Today, only 3% of California's original giant redwood population remains. Red gold is what the timber industry called the more than 110-meter-high sequoia trees in the mid-19th century because of the reddish color of the wood. Thousands of acres of redwoods are set aside for our enjoyment. The reason? The redwood, which is resistant to termites and fire, was an ideal building material. This led to a gold rush among California's loggers. Man against sequoia. To this day, the massacre of trees has resulted in 97% of the redwood population being felt. Among the remaining sequoia trees are the largest trees in the world. The tallest redwood in the world is 380 feet tall, which is pretty cool. It is called Hyperion and is considered to be the tallest tree on Earth. The coastal sequoia towers are a full 16 meters above the Frauenkirche in Munich. But it is not the largest tree in terms of volume. That would be the gigantic General Sherman tree. With a height of 83 meters and a trunk diameter of over 11 meters, this giant sequoia is the largest plant on Earth. Experts have estimated its age on the basis of tree ring counts of similar specimens. 2,500 years. But how does the tree grow so high? Huge roots provide the necessary support. They grow up to 30 meters around the trunk. But the coastal redwoods don't. They have very shallow roots. They go down about like 8 to 12 feet. And they go out really far and interlock with other trees, which keeps them strong. But that means that it's going to sway. So heads up, these trees are going to start swaying. In fact, the huge trees can easily be made to swing. But it's not the roots that are actually responsible for the height. Researchers assume that the trees grow so high because of the frequent fog here. The wafts of mist constantly provides the giants with enough moisture, even at great heights, without them having to absorb it through their roots and transport it all the way to the crown themselves. You could say that the largest root of the redwoods is the trunk. And Sheena's and Vanessa's unique workplace. 96 feet in the air. Is that the highest part? This is the highest platform. So this is my favorite platform of all because we're so high up right now and we only have 15 feet ahead of us. The sequoia trees in California. Not only are they the largest trees on earth, they are also among the fastest growing. An average redwood grows 1.2 meters in just one year. In comparison, a German beech tree only manages 50 centimeters a year. As we've now seen, a tree with a height of 100 meters does exist. But is there also a leaf with a three meter diameter? The plant is called Victoria amazonica. The biggest of them are said to exist in Taiwan, our next destination in search of the largest plants on our planet. 300 kilometers south of Taipei in Tainan, farmers grow the monster water lily. And indeed, hectares and hectares of giant water lilies float on the water surface. The size of the giant water lily is enormous. The leaves can grow up to three meters in diameter and can weigh up to six kilograms. For six years, botanist Chen Lu has been breeding the king lotus as it's known here. The giant lotus originally comes from South America. Where it grows in areas around the Amazon. Anyone who thinks it takes an eternity for the leaves to reach this size is wrong. If weather permits, it only takes two weeks for a leaf to reach this size. Another special feature of the giant water lily, the flower. It only opens on two consecutive days and changes its color from white to pink during this time. This is done to ensure non-specialized pollination. So with its sweet nectar, the bride flowers attract large beetles. As they feed on the nectar, the flower closes behind them. Inside the flower, the beetles are then sprinkled with ripe pollen. They only come out when the flower opens up again the next evening. The change of color to red scares off the beetles and makes sure they carry the pollen to another still white flower. Chen Lu's king lotus farm has become a real tourist magnet. The reason? The gigantic leaves can even carry the weight of a human being. Parents love to take pictures of their children standing on the giant leaves. Everyone wants a photo in a water lily boat. But how is that possible? Is there a gigantic stem underwater that carries the weight? No. The reason for the strong buoyancy of the water lily are these chambers on the underside of the leaf. The water lily stores air in them so that it does not sink even in heavy rainfall. A technique that structural engineers in the 19th century even used as a model for many technical lightweight constructions, such as the Crystal Palace in London. To prevent being nibbled at by fish, these leaves grow up to three centimeter long spikes on their undersides. But how much weight can the plant really bear? On the farm, the children sit in plastic bowls. Is that the trick? No. They only distribute the weight more evenly on the leaf and stops you from getting wet. We got ourselves a scale and put it to the test. The first child at 15 kilograms gets on to the leaf, then the second. Now it's 37 and with the third child it's already 54 kilograms. Will the giant water lily really carry the weight of four children? The water lily has a diameter of 1 meter 40. It should hold about 60 kilograms. The fourth child adds another 28 kilograms, but that's enough. Not you anymore. This is getting too heavy. Unbelievable. A total of 82 kilos are now sitting on the leaf and it stays afloat. The giant water lily can also be found in botanical gardens in Germany. However, in our climate, the leaves only grow to about 40 centimeters.