The Strange Island with Giant Trees in Russia

Located in the Far East of Russia, Sakhalin Island is said to be home to giant versions of ordinary plant species, such as buckwheat, burdock, and giant butterbur, which can reach heights of up to 5 meters.

This area boasts over 1,000 types of rare and endangered plants, not to mention the impressive size of many species. Most of the giant varieties are herbaceous plants. In other parts of the world, they typically only grow to the height of an adult’s knee, but on Sakhalin Island, they can reach up to 5 meters tall.

Sakhalin Island is home to approximately 500,000 people, primarily concentrated in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, while the remainder of the island is designated as a nature reserve for flora and fauna, as well as an area for ecological tourism.

Sakhalin is known as the largest island in the Russian Federation and has been a point of contention between Japan and Russia for centuries. However, according to reports that have gone largely unnoticed in the past decade, this island, along with the nearby Kuril Islands, is home to giant versions of many herbaceous plants. Species that typically grow to knee height in other regions can grow several times taller on these islands.

On this island, there are giant versions of many herbaceous plant species.

According to a 2009 report in Izvestia, Russian scientists have long studied the giant plants that grow in certain regions of Sakhalin Island. For example, buckwheat can reach heights of 3 meters (buckwheat typically grows from 0.4 to 1.7 meters), while burdock (normally about 1 to 1.5 meters tall) can grow up to 5 meters.

In fact, locals often do not carry umbrellas, as they can simply use a burdock leaf to shield themselves from unexpected rain. The average diameter of a burdock leaf on Sakhalin is about 3 meters. As a result, residents often use these leaves as makeshift umbrellas for sun and rain protection.

Researchers from the Marine Geology and Geophysics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences have conducted studies on unusually large herbaceous plants in 12 different regions in the southern parts of Sakhalin and Kunashir Islands. They found that these giant plants only grow in specific areas of the islands, seemingly influenced by tectonic activity that generates significant heat.

Giant plants only grow in certain areas of the islands.

Clearly, the impressive size of these plants is less about the plants themselves and more about the environment. When removed from their natural habitat and planted elsewhere, they only grow to normal sizes. The giant plants thrive in moist, land-based conditions located along tectonic fault lines, where a significant amount of heat and hydrocarbons can be delivered to their roots.

Images of giant plants on Sakhalin Island have gone viral on Russian social media.

Higher concentrations of copper and chromium compounds have also been identified as a potential factor for this extraordinary growth.

Photos of giant plants, including buckwheat, burdock, and avocado, reportedly growing on Sakhalin and some nearby Kuril Islands have gone viral and created a sensation on Russian social media.

Despite the unusually tall plants on Sakhalin Island, locals still use them as food sources. In fact, they have become popular local delicacies offered to visitors to the area.

It is evident that the impressive size of the plants on this island attracts many adventurous explorers. No visitor to Sakhalin Island leaves without taking photos beside these giant plants.