A whereisbob Contest!

I have a tendency to think that everything south of the Rio Grande is a bizarre and foreign world, completely different from our own. Parts of the state of Oaxaca however, are considered temperate sub-humid climate, and as such I was surprised at the number of plant species that are closely related to those from the eastern US and Canada. In at least one case (Pinus strobus) they are virtually identical.

Here are some photos from Oaxaca of various plants. I will buy a free beverage of your choice to any of you plant nerds out there who can identify these to the genus, or English equivalent common name. Good luck.

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More on world's largest tree

I am sorry to report that I cannot bring you the final word on the largest tree. I did go to visit El Arbol del Tule, but it is still unclear to me. First of all, Mexicans themselves seem very uninterested in whether it's the biggest or not. There is a tour, but it's all about unusual looking features that have grown into the stem or branches over the years, such as knots that look like monkey faces, or the the three wisemen (two separate features!). There is a big plaque which states that the trunk is 14.something metres, but no mention of a record. The other thing is that this particular species of Taxodium has a tendency for the trunks to fuse together, forming one bigger, larger trunk. In this particular tree's case, it has had over 2000 years to fuse probably an entire grove of small trees together. Personally, I don't think this should disqualify it, since this is a normal growth habit for the species, but it does mean the trunk is extremely irregular in shape, so measuring an actual diameter is a difficult exercise at best. One thing I can say with certainty is that it is impressive, and one of the biggest living things I'll ever see.

Well, perhaps the Americans or the Mexicans have the world's largest tree, but apparently Canada has the world's largest tree crusher, http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/crusher.htm
Now there's something to be proud of!