This is a list of the oldest-known trees, as reported in reliable sources. Definitions of what constitutes an individual tree vary. In addition, tree ages are derived from a variety of sources, including documented "tree-ring" (dendrochronological) count core samples, and from estimates. For these reasons, this article presents three lists of "oldest trees," each using varying criteria.
There are three tables of trees, which are listed by age and species. The first table includes trees for which a minimum age has been directly determined, either through counting or cross-referencing tree rings or through radiocarbon dating. Many of these trees may be even older than their listed ages, but the oldest wood in the tree has rotted away. For some old trees, so much of the center is missing that their age cannot be directly determined. Instead, estimates are made based on the tree's size and presumed growth rate. The second table includes trees with these estimated ages. The last table lists clonal colonies in which no individual tree trunks may be remarkably old but in which the organism as a whole is thought to be very old.
The current record-holders for individual, non-clonal trees are the Great Basin bristlecone pine trees from California and Nevada, in the United States. Through tree-ring cross-referencing, they have been shown to be almost five millennia old. [2]
A clonal colony can survive for much longer than an individual tree. A colony of 48,000 quaking aspen trees (nicknamed Pando), covering 106 acres (43 ha) in the Fishlake National Forest of Utah, is considered one of the oldest and largest organisms in the world. Recent estimates set the colony's age at several thousand (up to 14,000) years, although tree ring samples date individual stems at rarely more than 130 years. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] A colony of Huon pine trees covering 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) on Mount Read (Tasmania) is estimated to be around 10,000 years old, as determined by DNA samples taken from pollen collected from the sediment of a nearby lake. Individual trees in this group date to no more than 4,000 years old, as determined by tree ring samples. [8]
Name | Age (years) | Year Germinated | Species | Location | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prometheus (WPN-114) | 4,900+ | 2,900+ BCE | Great Basin bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva | Wheeler Peak, Nevada | United States | Cut down by Donald Rusk Currey in 1964. [9] |
Methuselah | 4,856 [nb 1] | 2,832 BCE | Great Basin bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva | White Mountains (California) | United States | It is the oldest known living (non-clonal) tree in the world. [11] |
Alerce Milenario or Gran Abuelo | 3,653–5,484 | 1,630+ BCE | Patagonian cypress Fitzroya cupressoides | Cordillera Pelada, Los Ríos | Chile | Alive. [11] [12] New unconfirmed estimation of 5,484 years would make it the oldest (non-clonal) tree in the world. [13] Located within Alerce Costero National Park. [14] |
CBR26 | 3,266 | 1,245 BCE | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Dead. [11] |
D-21 | 3,220 | 1,199 BCE | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Dead. [11] |
D-23 | 3,075 | 1,054 BCE | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Dead. [11] |
CMC 3 | 3,033 | 1,012 BCE | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Dead. [11] |
Scofield Juniper | 2,675 | 654 BCE | Sierra juniper Juniperus grandis [15] | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Dead. [11] |
BLK227 | 2,649 | 626 BCE | Bald cypress Taxodium distichum | Three Sisters Cove, Black River (North Carolina) | United States | [16] |
CB-90-11 | 2,467 | 443 BCE | Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine Pinus aristata | Central Colorado | United States | [11] [17] |
Panke Baobab | 2,419 | 398 BCE | African baobab Adansonia digitata | Matabeleland North | Zimbabwe | Died in 2011; the oldest non-clonal angiosperm ever documented. [18] |
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi | 2,310 | 287 BCE | Sacred fig Ficus religiosa | Anuradhapura, North Central Province | Sri Lanka | A sapling claimed to be from the Bodhi tree, the legendary tree under which the Buddha is said to have become enlightened. It was brought to its current location and planted at around 288 BCE by Sanghamitra, daughter of Emperor Ashoka. It is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. [19] |
? | 2,230 | 209 BCE | Qilian juniper Juniperus przewalskii | Delingha, Qinghai Province | China | [11] |
? | 2,200 | 179 BCE | Coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens | Northern California | United States | Dead. [11] |
Bennett Juniper | 2,200 | 179 BCE | Sierra juniper Juniperus grandis [15] | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | [11] |
SHP 7 | 2,110 | 89 BCE | Foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana | Sierra Nevada California | United States | [11] |
BLK232 | 2,089 | 68 BCE | Bald cypress Taxodium distichum | Three Sisters Cove, Black River (North Carolina) | United States | [16] |
? | 1,951 | 74 | Subalpine larch Larix lyallii | Kananaskis, Alberta | Canada | [11] [20] |
CRE 175 | 1,889 | 133 | Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum | Northern New Mexico | United States | [11] |
Miles Juniper | 1,836 | 189 | Sierra juniper Juniperus grandis[ citation needed ] | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | [11] [21] |
Jōmon Sugi | 1,813 | 212 | Sugi Cryptomeria japonica | Yakushima Island | Japan | [22] |
KET 3996 | 1,726 | 298 | Limber pine Pinus flexilis | Ketchum, Idaho | United States | [11] [23] |
BFR-46 | 1,697 | 325 | Limber pine Pinus flexilis | Wasatch Mountains, Utah | United States | [11] |
FL117 | 1,686 | 339 | Northern whitecedar Thuja occidentalis | Ontario | Canada | [11] [24] |
ERE | 1,670 | 352 | Limber pine Pinus flexilis | Northern New Mexico | United States | [11] |
RCR 1 | 1,666 | 356 | Foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | [11] |
? | 1,661 | 361 | Limber pine Pinus flexilis | South Park (Park County, Colorado) | United States | [11] |
BBL 2 | 1,649 | 373 | Foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | [11] |
BCK 69 | 1,658 | 376 | Bald cypress Taxodium distichum | Bladen County, North Carolina | United States | [11] [25] |
? | 1,636 | 386 | Nootka cypress Callitropsis nootkatensis | Vancouver Island | Canada | [11] |
FL101 | 1,567 | 455 | Northern whitecedar Thuja occidentalis | Ontario | Canada | [11] |
? | 1,542 | 480 | Limber pine Pinus flexilis | Central Colorado | United States | [11] |
Italus | 1,236 | 788 | Heldreich's pine Pinus heldreichii | Pollino National Park | Italy | Alive. Oldest tree in Europe with verified age (radiocarbon calibrated tree-ring procedure). [26] |
Note: The ages of the trees in this list are speculative and only serve as estimates.
Name | Age (years) | Species | Location | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Old Tjikko | 9,565 (years) | Norway spruce Picea abies | Fulufjället, Dalarna | Sweden | |
"The Sisters" or "Sisters Olive Trees of Noah" | 6,000 [27] | Olive Olea europaea | Bchaaleh, North Governorate | Lebanon | Folk legend also ascribes The Sisters as the source of the olive branch returned to Noah's Ark at the waning of the Biblical Flood. [28] [29] [30] The trees still produce olives. |
Alerce Milenario or Gran Abuelo | 5,484 | Patagonian cypress Fitzroya cupressoides } | Cordillera Pelada, Los Ríos | Chile | A new 2022 estimation of 5,484 years expands on a previous minimum age based on incomplete tree rings of 3,653. [13] [14] |
? [nb 2] | 5,076 | Great Basin bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva | White Mountains (California) | United States | Tree cored by Edmund Schulman, age determined by Tom Harlan. However, core is missing and date is unconfirmed. [11] [31] |
Llangernyw Yew | 4,000–5,000 | Common yew Taxus baccata | Llangernyw, Conwy | United Kingdom | Girth of 10.75 m. Situated in the churchyard of St Dygain's Church in Llangernyw village, Wales. One of the 50 Great British Trees. |
Sarv-e Abarkuh | 4,500 | Mediterranean cypress Cupressus sempervirens | Abarkuh, Yazd | Iran | Also called "Zoroastrian Sarv". [32] [33] |
Gümeli Porsuğu | 4,115 | Yew Taxus baccata | Zonguldak | Turkey | Alive, found in 2016. [34] [35] |
The Ancient Yew | 4,000 | Yew Taxus baccata | Tisbury, Wiltshire | United Kingdom | 37 feet in circumference. Situated in the churchyard of St John's, Tisbury. Carbon dated by David Bellamy. [36] |
The Senator | 3,500 | Pond cypress Taxodium ascendens | Longwood, Florida | United States | Died in January 2012 from human-caused fire. [37] [38] |
Oliveira do Mouchão (KNJ1/601) | 3,350 | European olive tree Olea europea L. var. europaea | Mouriscas, Abrantes | Portugal | Alive. [39] [40] |
S'Ozzastru | 3,000–4,000 | Olive Olea europaea | Luras, Sardinia | Italy | [41] |
The President | 3,200 | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, California | United States | Alive. |
Fortingall Yew | 3,000 | Common yew Taxus baccata | Fortingall, Perthshire | United Kingdom | Alive. Possibly the oldest tree in Britain. [42] [43] [ clarification needed ] |
Alishan Sacred Tree | 3,000 | Formosan cypress Chamaecyparis formosensis | Alishan National Scenic Area, Chiayi | Taiwan | Collapsed on July 1, 1997, following heavy rainstorms. [44] |
Patriarca da Floresta | 3,020 | Jequitibá-rosa | Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, São Paulo | Brazil | Alive. Probably the oldest non-conifer in Brazil. Its name translates as "Patriarch of the Forest". Located at the Vassununga State Park. [45] |
Great Camphor of Takeo | 3,000+ | Cinnamomum camphora "Camphor Tree" | Takeo, Saga | Japan | A large Camphor tree reputed to be over 3,000 years old. [46] Worshipped at a Shinto shrine dedicated to the tree, dating back to the 700s C.E. [47] Alive. |
Raintree | 3,000+ | Great Basin bristlecone pine | Spring Mountains, Nevada | United States | Great Basin Bristlecone Pine located near Kyle Canyon in the Spring Mountain range in Southern Nevada, USA. Estimated 3000 years old but never cored. |
Oliveira de Santa Iria de Azóia | 2,850 | Olive Olea europaea | Santa Iria de Azóia , Loures, Lisbon | Portugal | Magnificent Olive tree, probably the last one from a large olive grove. Studied by UTAD University and now classified "Public interest tree" by the Portuguese National Forest Authority; Tree ID [48] |
Mother of the Forest | 2,520 | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Sierra Nevada, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California | United States | Dead. |
Sarv Zibad | 2,500 | Mediterranean cypress Cupressus sempervirens | Sarv Zibad, Khorasan | Iran | Also called "holly Sarv". [32] [33] |
General Sherman | 2,300–2,700 | Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum | Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park, California | United States | Alive with a height of 83.8 meters (275 ft), a diameter of 11 m (36 ft) at its base, and an estimated bole volume of 1,487 m3 (52,513 cu ft), it is the largest known living single-stem tree, and among the tallest, widest, and longest-lived of all trees on the planet. [49] [50] |
Kayano Ōsugi | 2,300 | Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica | Yamanaka Onsen, Ishikawa | Japan | Girth of 9.6 m. One of the four trees believed to be sacred in the precincts in a Shinto shrine. Its name translates as "Great Sugi of Kayano". |
Oliveira de Santa Luzia | 2,210 | Olive Olea europaea | Santa Luzia, Tavira, Algarve | Portugal | Alive. [51] |
Jōmon Sugi | 2,170–7,200 | Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica | Yakushima | Japan | Girth of 16.4 m. Exact dating is made difficult by the rotten core of the trunk. Its name is a reference to the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory. [52] [53] [54] |
Ballyconnell Yew | 2,000–5,000 | Yew Taxus baccata | Ballyconnell, Annagh | Ireland | Oldest tree in Ireland.[ citation needed ] |
Elia Vouvon | 2,000–5,000 | Olive Olea europaea | Kolymvari, Crete | Greece | Its name translates as "Olive Tree of Vouves". [55] |
Castagnu dê Centu Cavaddi | 2,000–4,000 | Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa | Sicily | Italy | Its name translates as the "Hundred Horse Chestnut". |
Ulleungdo Hyangnamu | 2,000–3,000 | Chinese juniper Juniperus chinensis | Ulleung-gun, Gyeongbuk | South Korea | Girth of 4.5 m. One of the main branches was broken in 1985 by typhoon "Brenda". |
Stara Maslina | 2,249 (2,016-2482) [56] | Olive Olea europaea | Stari Bar, Bar | Montenegro | |
Tnjri | 2,040+ | Oriental plane Platanus orientalis | Martuni Region | Artsakh (de facto) / Azerbaijan (de jure) | Oldest tree in de facto Republic of Artsakh, de jure a part of Azerbaijan. Its trunk is hollow. Also known as "Sose's Tree". |
Koca Katran | 2,030 | Lebanon cedar Cedrus libani | Antalya | Turkey | Alive. [57] |
? | 2,010 | Olive Olea europaea | Exo Hora, Zakynthos | Greece | [58] |
? | 2,010 | Yew Taxus | Sochi, Krasnodar Krai | Russia | A grove known to possess several 2,000-year-old specimens. [59] |
Houkisugi at Nakagawa | 2,000 | Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica | Nakagawa Settlement, Yamakita, Kanagawa | Japan | |
Lady Liberty | 2,000+ | Bald cypress Taxodium distichum | Longwood, Florida | United States | Sometimes called the "Companion Tree" to 'Senator". |
Tejo Milenario | 2,000+ | Yew Taxus baccata | Cazorla, Jaén | Spain | Oldest tree in Spain. [60] |
The Pechanga Great Oak Tree | 1,000 [61] -2,000 | Coast live oak Quercus agrifolia | Temecula, California | United States | Oldest oak tree in the United States, possibly in the world. |
Methuselah | 1,800 | Coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens | Woodside, California | United States | [62] |
Araucaria Madre | 1,810 | Araucaria araucana | Araucanía | Chile | Located in Parque Nacional Conguillío. 1,800 rings account for at least 1,800 years. [63] |
Granit oak | 1,679 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur | Granit | Bulgaria | |
Kongeegen | 1,500–2,000 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur | Jægerspris Nordskov, Zealand | Denmark | [64] |
Stelmužė Oak | 1,500–2,000 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur | Stelmužė, Zarasai | Lithuania | Oldest tree in the Baltic states. Supposedly oldest oak in Europe. |
Vilémovice Yew | 1,500–2,000 | Common yew Taxus baccata | Vilémovice | Czech Republic | 345 cm (136 in) in circumference. [65] |
Aubépines | 1,500 | Common hawthorn Crataegus monogyna | Saint-Mars-sur-la-Futaie, Mayenne | France | Oldest tree in France. [66] |
Jardine Juniper | 1,500 | Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum | Logan Canyon, Utah | United States | [67] |
Árbol del Tule | 1,433–1,600 | Montezuma cypress Taxodium mucronatum | Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca | Mexico | Stoutest tree trunk in the world. Its name translates as the "Tule Tree". |
Baikushev's pine | 1,300 | Heldreich's pine Pinus heldreichii | Pirin Mountains | Bulgaria | Oldest known coniferous tree in Bulgaria. It is named after its discoverer, forest ranger Kostadin Baikushev. |
Te Matua Ngahere | 1,200–4,000 | Kauri Agathis australis | Waipoua Forest, Northland | New Zealand | Oldest tree in New Zealand. Its name translates as "Father of the Forest". |
Cis Henrykowski | 1270 | Common Yew Taxus Baccata | Henryków Lubański, Lower Silesia, | Poland | Oldest tree in Poland. The age of the tree was estimated based on the trunk circumference and growth rate assessed by taking a core from an undamaged part of the trunk. If the trunk is the result of the fusion of two or three trunks, its age may be younger. [68] |
Algarrobo Abuelo | 1,200+ | Algarrobo Prosopis chilensis | Villa de Merlo, San Luis Province | Argentina | Possibly oldest algarrobo in Argentina.[ citation needed ] |
As with all long-lived plant and fungal species, no individual part of a clonal colony is alive (in the sense of active metabolism) for more than a very small fraction of the life of the entire clone. Some clonal colonies may be fully connected via their root systems, while most are not actually interconnected, but are genetically identical clones which populated an area through vegetative reproduction. Ages for clonal colonies, often based on current growth rates, are estimates.[ citation needed ]
Name | Age (years) | Species | Location | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antarctic Beech | less than 70 million years [69] | Antarctic beech Nothofagus moorei | Repeater Station Road, Springbrook National Park, Queensland | Australia | Three individuals approximately 2000 years old are the parent trees to others in the surrounding forest; they grow clones by coppicing new shoots radially, forming a ring at the base of the parent tree trunk. [70] |
Wollemi Pines | 60+ million years | Wollemi pine Wollemia nobilis | Wollemi National Park, New South Wales | Australia | According to Cris Brack and Matthew Brookhouse at the ANU Fenner School of Environment & Society: "Once you accept that a common, genetically identical stock can define a tree, then the absolute “winner” for oldest tree (or the oldest clonal material belonging to a tree) [in Australia] must go to the Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis). It may be more than 60 million years old. The Wollemi pine clones itself, forming exact genetic copies. It was thought to be extinct until a tiny remnant population was discovered in Wollemi National Park in 1994... There is also substantial evidence that the tree has been cloning itself and its unique genes ever since it disappeared from the fossil record more than 60 million years ago." [71] |
Unknown | 43,600–130,000 | King's lomatia Lomatia tasmanica | Southwest National Park, Tasmania | Australia | Lomatia tasmanica is an endangered species with only one population, consisting of several hundred genetically identical individuals. Although it flowers occasionally, fruit production has never been observed, and it propagates vegetatively. Fossilized leaves are dated as at least 43,600 years old, found in sediments with a maximum age of 130,000. [72] |
Pando | less than 14,000 [4] –80,000 [73] | Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides | Fishlake National Forest, Utah | United States | Covers 107 acres (0.43 km2) and has around 47,000 stems (aged up to 130 years), which continually die and are renewed by its roots. Is also the heaviest-known organism, weighing 6,000 tonnes. |
Jurupa Oak [74] | 13,000 [75] | Palmer oak Quercus palmeri | Jurupa Mountains, California | United States | Quercus palmeri Engelm. = Quercus dunnii Kellogg. [75] |
Old Tjikko | 9,550 | Norway spruce Picea abies | Fulufjället National Park, Dalarna | Sweden | The tree's stems live no more than 600 years, but its root system's age [76] [77] was established using carbon dating and genetic matching. [78] Elsewhere in the Fulu mountains, 20 spruces have been found older than 8,000 years. [79] |
Old Rasmus | 9,500 | Norway spruce Picea abies | Sonfjället, Härjedalen | Sweden | [80] |
Mongarlowe mallee | 3,000–13,000 | Mongarlowe mallee Eucalyptus recurva | Mongarlowe, New South Wales | Australia | Alive. A critically endangered species, known only from 6 wild individuals, first described in the 1980s. Based on the size and growth rate of its lignotuber, the largest single specimen is estimated to be 3,000 years old. However, it is possible that two other specimens are actually the result of a split in the original rootstock, and based on their spread of 26m would be estimated at 13,000 years old, potentially the oldest single tree on earth. [81] |
unknown | 3,000 [82] –10,000 [83] | Huon pine Lagarostrobos franklinii | Mount Read, Tasmania | Australia | Several genetically identical males that have reproduced vegetatively. Although single trees in this stand may be around 3 to 4 thousand years old, the stand itself as a single organism has existed for 10,000 years. [8] |
Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating tree rings to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from the wood of old trees. Dendrochronology derives from the Ancient Greek dendron, meaning "tree", khronos, meaning "time", and -logia, "the study of".
The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree. All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is among the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The oldest of this species is more than 4,800 years old, making it the oldest known individual of any species. Many scientists are curious as to why this tree is able to live so long. In one study, they discovered that Pinus longaeva has higher levels of telomerase activity, which further slows or prevents the attrition rate of telomeres. This potentially contributes to the extended life of the bristlecone pine.
Taxus is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. Yews occur around the globe in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, northernmost in Norway and southernmost in the South Celebes. Some populations exist in tropical highlands.
Picea abies, the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
Pinus longaeva is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada, and Utah. Methuselah is a bristlecone pine that is 4,856 years old and has been credited as the oldest known living non-clonal organism on Earth. To protect it, the exact location of this tree is kept secret. In 1987, the bristlecone pine was designated one of Nevada's state trees.
Taxus baccata is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe, as well as Northwest Africa, northern Iran, and Southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be referred to as common yew, European yew, or in North America English yew. It is a woodland tree in its native range, and is also grown as an ornamental tree, hedge or topiary. The plant is poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and transpiration through the skin. Consuming any part of the tree, excluding the aril, can be deadly and the consumption of even a small amount of the foliage can result in death.
Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States; Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada; and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which protects the oldest living trees in the world. The forest, encompassing much of the Owens Valley, was established by Theodore Roosevelt as a way of sectioning off land to accommodate the Los Angeles Aqueduct project in 1907, making the Inyo National Forest one of the least wooded forests in the U.S. National Forest system.
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California.
This timeline lists events in the external environment that have influenced events in human history. This timeline is for use with the article on environmental determinism. For the history of humanity's influence on the environment, and humanity's perspective on this influence, see timeline of history of environmentalism. See List of periods and events in climate history for a timeline list focused on climate.
Prometheus was the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, United States. The tree, which was at least 4,862 years old and possibly more than 5,000, was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and United States Forest Service personnel for research purposes. Those involved did not know of its world-record age before the cutting, and the circumstances and decision-making process remain controversial.
The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. Considered one of the oldest trees in Britain, modern estimates place its age at an average of 5,000 years.
Kingley Vale is a 204.4-hectare (505-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chichester in West Sussex. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. An area of 147.9 hectares is a national nature reserve. Part of the land area designated as Kingley Vale SSSI is owned by the Forestry Commission
Methuselah is a 4,856-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world. Its old age is a result of harsh weather and a lack of nutrients, which slow down the decaying process. The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who is said to have reached 969 years of age before his death, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.
Donald Rusk Currey was an American professor of geography. While known in academia for his extensive research and exploration of relics of the ancient Lake Bonneville in the eastern Great Basin, he was best known to the public for his controversial felling of Prometheus, the oldest living non-clonal organism known at the time, while a graduate student in 1964.
Pando, is the world's largest tree, a quaking aspen located in Sevier County, Utah, United States, in the Fishlake National Forest. A male clonal organism, Pando has an estimated 47,000 stems (ramets) that appear to be individual trees, but are connected by a root system that spans 42.8 ha. Pando is the largest tree by weight and landmass and the largest known aspen clone. Pando was identified as a single living organism because each of its stems possesses identical genetic markers. The massive interconnected root system coordinates energy production, defense and regeneration across the tree's landmass. Pando spans 1.08 km × 0.72 km at its widest expanse along of the southwestern edge of the Fishlake Basin and lies 0.69 km (0.43 mi) to the west of Fish Lake, the largest natural mountain freshwater lake in Utah. Pando's landmass spreads from 2,700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level to approximately 2773m above sea level along the western side of a steep basin wall. Pando is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000 tonnes (6,000,000 kg), or 13.2 million pounds, making it the heaviest known organism. The Pando Tree's 43-hectare (106-acre) expanse also makes Pando the largest tree by landmass.
Negligible senescence is a term coined by biogerontologist Caleb Finch to denote organisms that do not exhibit evidence of biological aging (senescence), such as measurable reductions in their reproductive capability, measurable functional decline, or rising death rates with age. There are many species where scientists have seen no increase in mortality after maturity. This may mean that the lifespan of the organism is so long that researchers' subjects have not yet lived up to the time when a measure of the species' longevity can be made. Turtles, for example, were once thought to lack senescence, but more extensive observations have found evidence of decreasing fitness with age.
The Llangernyw Yew ( ) is an ancient yew in the village of Llangernyw, Conwy, Wales. The tree is fragmented and its core part has been lost, leaving several enormous offshoots. The girth of the tree at the ground level is 10.75 m (35.3 ft).
another bristlecone in the same area, proved to be 5,065 years old.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)72. National Trust. 2023. Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei). [ONLINE] Available at: https://trusttrees.org.au/tree/QLD/Springbrook/Repeater_Station_Road. [Accessed 8 April 2023].