You may have heard about the existence of very ancient trees in the world, trees so old that if they could talk they would tell the history of mankind for the last 10,000 years (or even more). But have you ever wondered why these trees live so long? Read on and we’ll explain the reason for their longevity.
Time doesn’t pass equally for trees
Generally speaking, a tree’s aging (longevity) is not synonymous with natural deterioration, that is, just because the tree is many years old does not necessarily mean that it is unhealthy or in poor condition.
In fact, many species reach maturity only at 100 years of age or more, as is the case of oak trees in the wild (outside of a commercial plantation).
Then, a tree can surpass 50 years of age and be in as good a condition as when it was 10 or 15 years old. What we mean by this is that the passage of time alone is not a deteriorating factor for the tree.
On the contrary, trees can thrive well and for a long time in appropriate conditions, for example:
- Places with no abundance of predators such as herbivorous animals eat the branches or other parts of the tree.
- Environments with cold temperatures where the probability of fire is minimal.
- Environments with difficult access where humans cannot reach.
Top 7 of the oldest trees in the world
7. Senator Tree (the Senator)
Approximate age
3500 years.
Species
Pond cypress.
Scientific name
(Taxodium ascendens)
Location
Longwood Florida, United States.
Status
Dead.
One of the largest and oldest trees in the world, the Senator reached a height of 36 meters and a trunk circumference of 10 meters.
This tree was originally 50 meters high, but its highest part was damaged by a hurricane in 1925.
Unfortunately, the Senator died in 2012 in a fire caused by 2 girls who were used to enter the national park where the tree was located.
One of the girls lit a bonfire to light it and to use drugs. According to one of the girls, the fire got out of control and eventually consumed the tree.
The following year, park administrators allowed wood artisans to create pots, vases, and crafts from the Senator’s remains as a sort of tribute to the fallen tree.
In 2014, a cloned tree of the Senator, an exact genetic copy of the tree, was planted very close to the original site where the ancient plant grew.
The name of the clone is the Phoenix.
6. Grand Grandfather Tree
Approximate age
3646 years old.
Species
Patagonian larch.
Scientific name
Fitzroya cupressoides.
Location
Coastal Alerce National Park, Chile.
Status
Alive.
This tree is the longest-living tree in South America. In addition, the Great Grandfather has a height of approximately 50 meters and a trunk diameter of 4 meters.
In 1993, several researchers used the incremental borer technique and from the extracted wood samples they estimated that Gran Abuelo was at that time 3622 years old.
The researchers also concluded that the germination of the Great Grandfather may have occurred in the mid-15th century BC.
On the other hand, the wood of the Patagonian larch is known for its great resistance since it has a high concentration of resins that stop decomposition even after being wet and left outdoors.
This meant that its wood has been highly coveted from colonial times to the present day, especially for construction purposes.
In fact, its wood became so valuable that it was used as a currency.
This is why it is protected as it is in danger of extinction due to indiscriminate logging.
5. Abarkuh Sarv-e Abarkuh or Abarkuh Cypress tree
Approximate age
This tree is estimated to be approximately 4000 to 5000 years old.
Species
Mediterranean cypress
Scientific name
Cupressus sempervirens.
Location
Yartz Province, Iran.
Status
Live.
The Abarkuh cypress is 25 meters high and its trunk diameter is 11.5 meters.
This tree is considered to be the longest-lived tree in Asia and is very important for those who practice Zoroastrianism; so much so that there is a legend that the prophet Zoroaster himself planted the tree.
Likewise, the Abarkuh cypress is considered a natural monument in Iran and is under the protection of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization. It is even one of the most important attractions in the city of Abarkuh. In addition, since 2008 the government of Iran has been trying to get UNESCO to protect the tree under its jurisdiction and thus include it in the world heritage list.
4. Llangernyw Yew tree.
Approximate age
The exact age of this tree is not known but similarly to the Abarkuh cypress, it is estimated that this tree may be between 4000 and 5000 years old.
Species
Common yew.
Scientific name
Taxus baccata.
Location
Conwy, Wales.
Status
Live.
This tree is just over 13 meters tall and has a trunk nearly 11 meters in diameter.
Furthermore, experts believe that the tree must have germinated in prehistoric times when Europe was still in the Bronze Age.
It has been difficult to estimate its age as the trunk has been lost, giving way to large branches.
For that reason, it has been very difficult to extract samples of the wood where the rings can be counted accurately.
We do know that the tree has been named and described next to St. Diagain’s church for almost as long as there has been a written record in the village of Llangernyw (more than 1000 years).
Also, the tree is an important part of Welsh folklore and mythology as it is associated with the spirit Angelystor who supposedly resides in it and, every Halloween during the mass celebrated in the church of St. Diagain pronounces the names of the people who will die the following year.
3. Methuselah Tree
Approximate age
4850 years old.
Species
Long-lived pine.
Scientific name
Pinus longaeva.
Location
Inyo County, California, United States.
Status
Alive.
This tree was discovered in 1957 and was nicknamed “Methuselah” after the mythical biblical man who supposedly lived 969 years.
This tree was considered the longest-lived tree in the world until 2012.
Methuselah grows in the White Mountains of Inyo County, California, at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, where it is surrounded by other thousand-year-old trees like it.
Also, according to calculations made by researchers, it is believed that “Methuselah” may have germinated around the 29th century BC, that is, around the year 2832nd century BC, approximately.
This suggests that the tree has inhabited our planet since before the first pyramids were built by the ancient Egyptians.
On the other hand, its exact location has not been revealed to avoid acts of vandalism or simple stupidity as in the case of the Senator mentioned at the beginning of this list.
Therefore, keep in mind that the photos you can find on the internet are probably not of “Methuselah” but of some tree of the same species.
Finally, let us tell you that a clone of “Methuselah” has been created by a farmer named Jared Milarch.
2. Prometheus or Prometheus Tree
Approximate age
Between 4862 and 4900 years.
Species
Long-lived pine.
Scientific name
Pinus Longaeva.
Location
Wheeler Peak, Nevada, United States.
Status
Dead
Before his death in 1964, the Prometheus tree was the longest-living tree on record, even older than “Methuselah”.
Back then, Prometheus was located in a grove of very old trees in Wheeler Park Nevada.
That is until geography student Donald R. Currey asked the Forest Service for permission to extract a sample of the tree for study, as he suspected the specimen was at least 4,000 years old.
The problem was that the wood extraction “got out of hand” for Currey and he ended up cutting down the entire tree and, so much for Prometheus.
The only good thing about this situation is that these trees began to be more protected from that year on. So their location would not be revealed to the public because if those in the know would do that, imagine a vandal!
Subsequently, other researchers counted about 4862 growth rings on the cut trunk of Prometheus and estimated that the tree didn’t produce rings every year, most likely due to the extreme conditions of its habitat.
Nevertheless, the researchers estimated that the tree was about 4900 years old.
Today, a sample of Prometheus’ trunk is still preserved in a museum where visitors can count the growth rings.
1. Great Basin Bristlecone Pine Tree
Approximate age
5071 years old.
Species
Long-lived pine.
Scientific name
Pinus Longaeva.
Location
Inyo County, California, United States.
Status
Alive.
Finally, we present the Great Bristlecone Pine, the longest-lived tree in the world. In 2012, it dethroned “Methuselah” as it was approximately 200 years older.
This is a tree that generally has no name, as Bristlecone refers to a family of pines that are very resistant to the passing of time.
In fact, “Methuselah” and Prometheus are their “younger brothers.”
The tree was discovered by the researcher Edmund Schulman; however, he could not estimate the age of the pine tree because he died soon after.
Later in 2010, Tom Harlan, another researcher, took the samples that Schulman had left behind and estimated that the Great Bristlecone Pine was approximately 5062 years old.
The fact is that even today the exact age of the tree is not known for sure because Harlan died and the samples on which he worked have not been found.
What makes these trees live so long?
According to researcher Sergi Munné Bosch of the Biology faculty of the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio), the longest-lived trees have several characteristics in common that allow them to adapt very well to their environment, making it possible for them to survive longer.
These characteristics are:
- The slow growth of these trees.
- The ability to recover quickly from blows, cuts, and attacks.
- High tolerance and resistance to the most extreme environmental changes.
Slow growth is a determining factor
Slow-growing species are distinguished by producing dense and resistant wood, and this can be explained by the fact that the tree devotes more resources to “hardening” its wood.
Unlike many fast-growing species that usually focus on longitudinal growth (growing at altitude).
But slow growth is not associated only with the production of denser wood but is also often linked to environments of scarcity.
Millennium species usually live in very rugged terrain where the soils have few nutrients and temperatures are extreme, but at the same time, there is little or no competition for resources.
So while the conditions in which these specimens are found are very harsh, they have also helped them to be surprisingly adaptable to hostile conditions.
In other words, these trees are accustomed to “dealing with anything”.
To give you a better perspective on these plants, remember that these ancient trees were just “babies” when the ancient Egyptians began building the pyramids and yet they have been able to survive all this time.
How do you calculate the age of these trees?
As we have already mentioned, these trees can reach several thousand years old, or at least that is what researchers say. But how do they calculate the age of these plants?
The answer is: by means of dendrochronology, which is the science of counting and dating growth rings in the wood.
Dendrochronology is not a new science, in fact, it has been practiced for about 500 years, and for a long time it was based on cutting the trunk of the tree to be studied at its base in order to count the rings.
As you can see, however, the process was very productive from a research point of view but fatal for the species studied.
Imagine cutting down a tree thousands of years old just for research.
For this reason the method changed (fortunately), since for obvious reasons the idea was to count the growth rings without killing the tree.
This is why the incremental borer was invented, a specialized tool shaped like a long, hollow drill with a hole in the end, a cross-shaped handle that exerts the lever action when both hands are rotated, and a puller to remove the wood.
Thus, the incremental borer is designed to remove a section of wood from the living tree causing as little damage as possible.
The tool then allows a small sample of the internal wood to be removed from the trunk from which the growth rings can be counted and the age of the tree calculated.
This is, in fact, the best and most efficient way to calculate the age of trees.
Final considerations
These were the 7 oldest individual trees in the world, i.e., these trees lived all those years without replicating and creating clones.
In fact, there are multiple clones of the same tree that is estimated to be 80,000 years old.
But in this case, we are not really talking about an original tree but about its copies, which although they have the same genetic material as the original, are not exactly the same tree and that is why we have not taken them into account for this list.
Besides, as you may have noticed, these trees have had an incredible capacity to adapt and survive in very adverse and at the same time favorable situations.
However, it is almost always the human being who, for some reason (carelessness or outright stupidity), manages to screw up the lives of these millenary beings, that if they could talk, who knows what stories they would tell us.