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I want a tall tree. But I also want a fat tree. And I want a fast tree.

Now, tall and fast are covered by one plant that I have in mind: bamboo.

Fat is covered by another: Baobabs.

I want a tree/grass that grows is basically bamboo growing close together, with their stems eventually merging to create one uber-bamboo. I want the bamboos to share nutrients, root systems, and be capable of propagating the same way normal bamboo do, growing more uber-bamboos.

There is a special animal that eats thin — and only thin — bamboo, leading to ecological pressures to make fat bamboo.

I'd like the plant to be roughly 150 feet tall, and roughly 8 feet wide.

Is this ecologically and evolutionarily viable? If not, what do I have to change to make it so?

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    $\begingroup$ Have you considered the banana plant? Might be a better fit. $\endgroup$
    – Mathaddict
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 23:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Mathaddict Maybe, but they aren't that tall. $\endgroup$
    – Firedestroyer
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 23:09
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    $\begingroup$ How tall do they need to be? the question doesn't say. $\endgroup$
    – Mathaddict
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 23:09
  • $\begingroup$ @Mathaddict I'll add the info. $\endgroup$
    – Firedestroyer
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 23:10
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    $\begingroup$ Bamboo and other grasses will not work, then. They are very hard or impossible to graft or fuse. You might want to look into fast-growing trees such as Paulownia. It might also be better if special animals eat bark, not shoots. While bark removal increases the risk of infection, it also facilitates trunk and branch fusion. $\endgroup$
    – Otkin
    Commented Jan 13, 2022 at 22:28

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It's viable, yes.

Nature has done weirder things than what you're describing. Boababs, as you mentioned, are absurdly thick for their height and canopy size. Bamboo grows very fast. And you want a tree that merges multiple stems to a single stem? Look at the banyan. (coincidentally, some species of banyan can get about 100 feet tall, so already on your way for height, and on par with Boababs)

While I don't believe there is any existing species that checks all your boxes, height, thickness, speed, and zippering trunks, all in one package, there are several that come close.

Coastal redwoods show that your height requirement is certainly possible. Sequoias show that thickness is certainly possible. Bamboo shows that speed is possible. Banyans show that combining previously separated trunks is possible.

And some of them check multiple boxes at once, and come close on the ones they don't check.

Coastal redwoods are both tall and thick. Sequoias are both tall and thick. Banyans are both thick and trunk-merging, while also being near the height requirement. Boababs are also thick while coming close on height.

Bamboo is the odd one out, that only has one of the key aspects, which is speed.

But since the individual features you're looking for certainly already exist in nature, if you assume appropriate evolutionary pressures are/were present, there's no reason to believe that such a plant as you want would not be feasible.

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