2715: Pando

2022-12-23T14:20:18Z

StevieG: correcting unsubstantiated myths about the origin of christmas and christmas trees

{{comic
| number = 2715
| date = December 23, 2022
| title = Pando
| image = pando_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x372px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The presents under the tree are actually a single gift connected by an underground ribbon system.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CHRISTMAS PANDA — Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Pando_(tree)|Pando}} is a {{w|Populus tremuloides|quaking aspen}} tree colony in {{w|Fishlake National Forest}}, Utah. Depending on how you measure[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWAA-SrrFUQ], Pando is the largest living organism on earth, and is thereby also the largest tree on earth. By dry mass (weight not including water), Pando is the largest living thing humans have found. There is [https://www.forbes.com/sites/linhanhcat/2019/02/22/largest-organism-in-the-world/?sh=43fdf2a444ac one fungus in Oregon] which may weigh more including water, but that fungus is not a tree.

Pando is a Tree colony, a type of {{w|Clonal colony}} made of trees. Clonal colonies all form from the same seed or other origin, and are all genetically identical. Tree colonies spread using their extensive root system. Under all trees there are {{w|Root|roots}}, which gather nutrients and water from soil. On clonal trees (such as the {{w|Populus tremuloides|Quaking Aspen}}, Pando's species), when roots from one tree surface they can form another stalk/tree. This additional stalk is a genetic clone of the original. This clone then grows its own root network, and where they surface they too form more clones. However, crucially, the roots between the clones do not naturally separate, so all clones naturally stay attached. Each clone has a limited lifespan, only a few decades/centuries, but the colony can live for millennia. For example, the only known wild example of {{w|Lomatia tasmanica|''Lomatia tasmanica'', aka King's lomatia}}, is a clonal shrub thought to be at least 43,600 years old, and Pando itself is thought to be around 14,000 years old.

{{w|Christmas}} is a celebration on the 25th of December, traditionally celebrating the birth of {{w|Jesus}}, which is often claimed to be built heavily upon pagan traditions[https://chefin.com.au/blog/these-6-christmas-traditions-are-actually-pagan-customs/], though this is disputed by historians[https://historyforatheists.com/2020/12/pagan-christmas/] and annual social customs, then arguably converted into a far more secular event (with or without rampant consumerism). This comic was published on the 23rd of December, 2 days until Christmas, or [[Christmas Eve Eve]]

The concept of a {{w|Christmas tree}}, itself, is often said to be rooted in various pre-Christian folkloric traditions, though there is no evidence for this claim, and, in the modern era, may be adapted or adopted as required by local and personal circumstances, and need not be an {{w|Evergreen}} fir tree with an angel (or star) atop, but merely any handy plant (or artificial substitute) strewn with such decorations and/or {{w|Christmas lights|lights}} as the owner wishes. Because humans are, well, humans, people and places often compete to hold the record for the largest Christmas tree. At time of publishing (and writing), the tallest Christmas tree is officially a 64.36m (221ft) tall {{w|Douglas fir}} that was displayed in {{w|Northgate Station (shopping mall)|Northgate Shopping Center}}{{Actual citation needed}}, Seattle, WA in 1950[https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/77271-tallest-christmas-tree][https://www.historylink.org/File/21359]. The most widely spread, however, is likely the [https://www.italybyevents.com/en/events/umbria/world-largest-christmas-tree-gubbio/ Christmas tree display] in {{w|Gubbio}}, a town in Umbria, Italy, where hundreds of trees on a mountain face are lit up with light to form a Christmas tree shape.

Sidenote: A lot of articles say that the Gubbio tree has a Guinness world record. However, I can't find a citation for that. If anyone can, please add it. That would be appreciated.

In this comic, [[Randall]] proposes putting Christmas lights all the way around Pando to turn into (technically) a Christmas tree. As Pando is the worlds largest tree then, if this plan were to be carried out, it would safely take the record and hold it for quite some time.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[The main comic frame is a profile view of a number of separated trees, of varying heights and maturity, across each of which (of those with sufficient height) has apparently been draped a single chain of decorative lights that goes from off-image at one side to off-image at the other.]

:[Inset in the bottom right is a mini-map implicating that these light-linked 'trees' are actually all risers from a single large superorganism (as a shaded complex but contiguous shape labelled "Pando"), the map has a "N"orth pointer, a scale bar indicating the length of "1,000 ft" (approximately a third of the shaded mass's full width) and a convex hull perimeter line tightly fitting the shaded area that has an indicative arrow from a label informing us that its length would be "9,300 ft".]

:[Caption below:] Christmas Science Fact: Pando is approximately 9,300 feet away from being the world's largest Christmas Tree.

{{comic discussion}}

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2715: Pando