- The tallest - The Australian mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) is the largest flowering plant, regularly growing over 300 feet. The largest, measured by an official inspector of forests, was one discovered fallen and was said to have been 435 feet long.
- The oldest - The oldest bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) of California, are estimated to be over 4,600 years old.
- The most massive: The giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) also of California, are the most massive plant. An example being that of the tree named 'General Sherman' at 290 feel tall, a girth of eighty feet (measured at six feet above the ground) and an estimated weight of over 6,000 tons.
- The biggest inflorescence: The plant with the biggest inflorescence is that of the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) with a spathe three feet across and a spadix raising to nine feet tall. See a titan arum come into flower in the video uploaded by Kew, below:
- The biggest single flower: The parasitic rafflesia (Rafflesia Arnoldi) grows the largest flowers with the record at around 42 inches, but regularly 36 inches across. It can do this, perhaps, because it doesn't need to gather its own food and instead 'steals' food from the vine it parasitises.
Attenborough, D. (1995) The Private Life of Plants, London, BBC Worldwide.
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