Recently, in a mountain forest in Baoshan, Yunnan, researchers found a group of national treasure-level plants here- quercus, and there are about 200 plants, and the growth is very good.
According to the accounts of the surrounding villagers, these alder trees grew here since childhood, and the locals did not know that they were an ancient rare species, nor did they know its value, but they did not destroy them, and these alder groups were preserved and became "living fossils".
They are a tall fern, and this time in the group of alders found in Baoshan, Yunnan, China, the largest one is 14 meters tall, which is also the rarer of the alder trees.
In addition to China, quercus is distributed in many countries in the world, this is because as early as ancient times, they used to be all over the earth, is a plant with a large number of numbers on the earth.
Nowadays, the main plant types on the earth are angiosperms, but the emergence of angiosperms is only more than 100 million years old, and the alder, as a fern, is one of the oldest plants on the earth, from the perspective of time, about 300 million years ago, the alder has appeared.
And they have also experienced at least 2 times of mass extinction of the earth's organisms, and have survived to this day, it has to be said that this ancient plant is really one of the most valuable plants in the earth.
Fossil studies have found that about 180 million years ago, when the alder was the most luxuriant on earth, when dinosaurs also began to rise, so the alder was once a plant that coexisted with dinosaurs, and may even have provided a rich food source for herbivorous dinosaurs.
It was not until after the advent of angiosperms that ferns such as quercus began to gradually decrease, and to this day, alder is also one of the few ancient ferns that exist on the earth, and if not protected, they are also at risk of extinction in the future.
In China's territory, quercus is mainly distributed in Fujian, Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hong Kong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shenzhen, Taiwan and other regions, they are a kind of plants that like warm and humid climate, the temperature and environment requirements are very high, therefore, in the process of evolution of the earth for hundreds of millions of years, but also because of changes in the climate environment, geological environment, resulting in the survival of the alder has been threatened, the number has become smaller and smaller.
In addition, in the past, alder has also been large-scale deforestation by humans, which has also led to a sharp decline in their numbers. Take the Group of Alders in Baoshan, Yunnan Province, for example, although the locals do not know them, they have not been cut down, but have allowed them to grow intact in the nearby mountain forests, and this group of alders has been preserved.
If since ancient times, local residents have had the habit of cutting down alder trees, then this time it is probably impossible to find such a large-scale alder group in the local area, and it is even possible that they have long been extinct.
The answer is yes, quecer is China's national second-level protected plant, we must not move what "crooked brains" on them, in 2019, Yunnan once had someone illegally dug the alder smuggling and selling, after being discovered, it was also punished as it should be.
So, what is the value of the alder? First of all, the scientific research value, as one of the oldest surviving plants on the earth, the alder has hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history on the earth, through their study, it can help us better understand the topography and climatic characteristics of the ancient period of the earth, so as to sort out the complete evolutionary history of life on the earth, provide relevant help.
Secondly, the alder is also a very ornamental plant, after the rise of angiosperms, the survival of the fern itself is threatened, in the natural competition does not have an advantage, therefore, a large number of ferns have been eliminated by angiosperms, and we can still travel through hundreds of millions of years of time, to see the alder, which also makes the alder a rare "work of art" in nature, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a national treasure.
Speaking of which, China's Yunnan has been a place with very rich animal and plant resources since ancient times, and many researchers believe that in Yunnan, there are likely to be a large number of unknown species, which are hidden in inaccessible places, so that they have not been discovered by us, as if this time the Group of Trees in Baoshan, Yunnan Is an accidental discovery.
It is worth mentioning that in Pu'er, Yunnan, there is also the world's largest group of alders, which also means that the original ecological natural environment of Yunnan in China, the protection work is very good, otherwise there can not be so many rare animals and plants growing in Yunnan.
Next, the researchers will also focus on the conservation of this newly discovered alder group, and continue to search for this ancient "living fossil" to give them a chance to continue on Earth. So, in your hometown, have you ever seen such a alder tree?