megaflora

{{Short description|Large Plants}}

{{about|large species of plants|the song by Blank Banshee|Mega (Blank Banshee album)}}

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Megaflora (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin flora "plant life") refers to an exceptionally large plant species; Jared Farmer defined the term as "the largest vascular plants of a particular region, habitat, or epoch".{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Beryl |date=2023-04-05 |title=Ancient Trees in a Modern World |url=https://sempervirens.org/news/ancient-trees-in-a-modern-world/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Sempervirens Fund |language=en-US}} Examples of megaflora include the Sequoioideae of California, Pando (a large clonal organism of quaking aspen located in Utah), and a number of extinct plant species from the Mesozoic.{{Cite journal |last1=Martínez |first1=L. C. A. |last2=Pacheco Huacallo |first2=E. |last3=Pujana |first3=R. R. |last4=Padula |first4=H. |date=2020-06-01 |title=A new megaflora (leaves and reproductive structures) from the Huancané Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Peru |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667119301314 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=110 |pages=104426 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104426 |bibcode=2020CrRes.11004426M |s2cid=213340202 |issn=0195-6671}}{{Cite web |last=Pederson |first=Neil |date=2012-03-18 |title=Charismatic Megaflora: What do Old Trees Look Like? |url=https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2012/03/18/charismatic-megaflora-what-do-old-trees-look-like/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=State of the Planet |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Paul |last2=Oditt |first2=Lance |title=Pando: Charismatic Megaflora And The Populus Paradox |url=https://mountainjournal.org/two-scientists-pay-tribute-to-the-largest-living-imperiled-organism-on-earth |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Mountain Journal |language=en}}

Megaflora (along with megafauna) are often seen as charismatic and have wide public appeal, making them particularly useful as the symbol or flagship species of conservation efforts.{{Cite journal |last1=Enquist |first1=Brian J. |last2=Abraham |first2=Andrew J. |last3=Harfoot |first3=Michael B. J. |last4=Malhi |first4=Yadvinder |last5=Doughty |first5=Christopher E. |date=2020-02-04 |title=The megabiota are disproportionately important for biosphere functioning |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=699 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-14369-y |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7000713 |pmid=32019918|bibcode=2020NatCo..11..699E }}