Theinterestingworldofplants

　　WaterliliescanoftenbeseeninChina,withtheirroundleaves,orpads,floatinginponds.InHangzhou,thereisakindofwaterlilywhosepadsaresohugethatapersoncanstandonthem.ThisisaVictorialily,thelargestkindofwaterlilyintheworld.Itspadsaremorethantwometreswideanditswhiteorpurpleflowerscangrowaslargeas45centimertresacross.

　　Somefloweringplantscanalsobeeaten.Thelotus,anearrelativeofthewaterlily,sisuchaplant.Ithanalongwhiteroot,inwhichtherearemanyholes.InAsiancountries,lotusrootsandseedsareoftencookedandservedinmeals.IntheWest,eatinglotusrootsorseedsisnotaspopularasitisinAsia.

　　Thebanyantreeisaninterestingtreewithmanyrootsgrowingdownfromitsbranches.ItcanbefoundinSouthChinaandotherpartsofAsia.Whenitsrootsreachtheground,theyplantthemselvesandgrowbark.Eventuallytheyeitherbecomepartoftheoriginaltreetrunkorbecomeseparatetreetrunks.Usingthismethod,banyantreescancoveranenormousarea.Theworld'slargestbanyantree,inIndia,coversanarealargerthanafootballpitch.Eventhoughitisonlyonetree,itlookslikeawholeforest!

　　Speakingoftrees,agingkotreebelievedtobearound2800yearsoldwasrecentlydiscoveredinHebeiProvince,China.Manygingkotreeshavebeenaroundformorethan1000years---thatisthereasonwhytheyareknownas'longevitytrees'inChina.Whliegingkotreescanliveforalongtime,theyarenotevennearbeingtheoldesttrees.BristleconepinetreesinAmericaareamongtheoldestlivingtrees.OnebristleconepinetreeinNevadaisover4600yearsOld!

　　waterlily：睡莲

　　pad:浮叶

　　float:漂浮

　　pond:池塘

　　Victorialily:王莲

　　flower:v.开花

　　lotus:荷花

　　relative:同类事物

　　banyantree：榕树

　　bark:树皮

　　separate:不同的

　　enormous:巨大的

　　pitch:场地,球场

　　speakof:提起

　　gingkotree:银杏树

　　longevity:长寿

　　bristleconepinetree:狐尾松树