Fastest growing vegetative species one earth

Does anyone know what the fastest growing plant on earth is? vegetation, fruit, height etc? I originally thought some species of bamboo.....or AG's....lol

 

For height, I would also assume bamboo. The photojournal at the bottom of this page is quite interesting.

For fruit mass, I'd have to say the hybrid giant pumpkins - I can't think of anything else that could put on pounds every single day.

For foliage, I don't know.

 

Thanks for your reply Daniel. That link on Bamboo is very interesting!

 

In total weight added per individual plant per year, the 'General Sherman' Sequoiadendron giganteum (adds several tonnes each year)

 

If I were to go by my back yard, I would have said blackberries.

 

I'm sure i read somewhere the fastest growing plant was a grass, not the foliage but the roots 20' per day or something crazy like that, aquatic plants also, some grow feet per day...........largest area covered was by a single fungus 20 Square hectares...if i find out where i saw these figures, i'll be sure and post up.

 

Kudzu perhaps?

 

To be fair, there should be a set of criteria for determining the rate of growth if we are going to make comparisions in our quest for the record of "fastest growing" flora. If it can be measured, what about considering the percentage increase in biomass per annum? If that is the measurement, plants like running bamboos (not clumpers, by the way) and kudzus would be front runners. But we are probably going to be pleasantly surprised that some insignificant moss might just about snatch the title.

But I just want to mention that the largest tree bound fruit in the world is the jackfruit - Artocarpus heterophyllus. We used to grow these in Malaysia. A good sized fruit on a mature tree can measure up to 3 feet in diameter and 4-5 feet long, and weigh close to 100 pounds. (Just don't stand under it when it's ripe!)

 

kudzu is good,but here in florida i would look at aquatic plants such as hyacinth and hydrilla,have seen them envelope lakes in a very short time

 

I'd doubt kudzu comes very high in this - it doesn't put on much mass, just lots of long, slender twining stems that smother everything. It can do this because it doesn't 'waste' energy putting on stem thickness to hold itself up.

There's an Abies grandis plantation in Scotland which is growing at 34 tonnes (dry weight) per hectare per year; that's reported to be a record for wood production in Europe. Much higher values should be possible in the tropics.