A fern has entered the record books for having more DNA than any other living thing.

The plant’s genetic material, or genome, would reach about 100 metres when unravelled, outstripping Big Ben.

Scientists say it’s a “crazy” amount of DNA for a tiny plant that most people would walk by without noticing.

“It’s the biggest genome that has ever been discovered out of all organisms that live on this planet,” Dr Ilia Leitch of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, told BBC News.

“How does it function? How does it survive with that much DNA in it?”