Talk:2715: Pando

Mass is around 6 million kg. Area is 43.6 ha. In SI units, that's 436,000 square metres... but I'd be tempted to say "over 400,000".

c/f https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ingino_Christmas_Tree

I was about to write the following as a first explanation, but by the time I'd drafted it, there already was one. Anyway, here it is,

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Pando is a large colony of aspen trees in Utah, USA, which are all natural clones, connected by a root system. It is the largest single living organism by mass, at around 6 million kilograms.

Randall postulates that, if wrapped in fairy lights, it would count as the world's largest Christmas Tree, surpassing others such as Mount Ingino.

162.158.34.75 12:24, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

How do you add pictures? There are some things here which a piture would be great for, but I don't know how. I'll check the manual later if I don't get a reply. SqueakSquawk4 (talk) 12:33, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

According to scientist, this is the largest living organism: https://theconversation.com/meet-the-worlds-largest-plant-a-single-seagrass-clone-stretching-180-km-in-western-australias-shark-bay-184056 162.158.239.26 12:58, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

It doesn't say organism.

Sea grass clones split up into separate entities.

The point about Pando is, it's all connected.

--162.158.74.21 13:26, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

I like the attitude of article about biggest organism (the fungus): What is the organism most likely to survive climate change and how it tastes. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:45, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

I hit an Edit Conflict in which my change was in the same (sub-)part of the Conflict text as outright dismissed the pre-Christian origins of a Christmas (or pre-Christmas seasonal) tree as having no proof, but with no citation itself. The whole basis of the Saint Boniface episode (or at least the inspiration that forked its telling), as included in the links already there, and the acknowledged existence of such midwinter tree-veneration (forerunner of apple-wassailing, etc; not directly linked, but a short wikihop away) makes me think you cannot so easily deny the roots (NPI!) in 'pagan' worship and go on to claim that only under the influence of the new religion was the spark of wintery tree-veneration. So I didn't spend much effort on mingling my new bits and the 'old new' bits. But it seems useful to note that it was mentioned. Perhaps with a hedged 'cite' towards any mainstream doubts/contraindications, original re-editor can slip it back into whatever form that bit of the explanation has reached by then. 172.70.91.75 14:40, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

The main thing that Christmass took from pagan celebration is DATE. There are no reasons to think Jesus was born in December, much less specifically on 25th, and several good arguments why he wasn't. Meanwhile, pagan celebrations of winter solstice are quite easy to prove when they were. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:45, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

Sidenote (moved from explanation): 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.

Wow! This explanation is really well done! I thought I was looking at a Good-Class Wikipedia article for a bit there! (also, is the crapper 2.0 gone now?) 162.158.78.105 22:59, 23 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

This is a terrible sentence: "The celebration is often claimed to be built heavily upon pagan traditions,[2] though this is disputed by some historians[3], as well as on annual social customs, then arguably converted into a far more secular event for many." 172.70.211.136 05:41, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Like "a camel is a horse designed by committee", it was through multiple edits, as varying views were inserted.

It would also help if instead of some kind of statement of fact,[bare_reference], it was more some kind of statement [text_reference of fact],, IMO, but the last edit I made to that bit myself was before some of this increasing need to qualify the qualifying statements and made it obvious that concensus hadn't settled down yet.

Definitely prime for a minor rewrite of that snippet. Reorganise, split concepts, perhaps even lose something (arguable what, though, and it might be reinserted) as one simplifies. Not gonna be me doing it, right now, but perhaps only for time reasons. Anyone can try, though, and as likely to be improving as anybody else. 172.70.162.56 12:30, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

OpenStreetMap has an outline

The explanation currently links to Google Maps with an outline. OpenStreetMap has a much smaller area marked as the forest: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/677753549#map=18/38.52463/-111.75065 Which is correct? Should OSM be updated? The OSM geometry can be used in the Wikipedia article, if it's correct. (Maybe this wiki could even embed a map? I'm not sure what it supports.) 172.70.188.128 08:16, 25 December 2022 (UTC)

Is'nt this linked to Disney's Christmas offering this year - Strange World - in some way seeing as in the film they grow something called Pando, which turns out to be one large colony. Also Pando glows a bit like christmas lights. 162.158.222.124 17:15, 25 December 2022 (UTC)

Not familiar with Disney's thing. But sounds like they also (separately and differently) were inspired by the real Pando.

I wuldn't know if Randall got to know of real!Pando only via disney!Pando and then had his own idea, but I'd probably default to thinking it was just a random thing he already knew (or learnt a tid-bit about from a random wikiwalk?) and ended up putting into his 'ideas that would work with a Christmas comic' folder... 162.158.74.21 22:15, 25 December 2022 (UTC)