When you think of ancient trees, you probably think of
petrified wood. You may be shocked to know that there are some ancient trees
that are still living. The oldest known living organism is a bristlecone pine
in Nevada that is over 5000 years old. When this tree sprouted, writing was a
new concept and Egypt was under the rule of its first pharaohs. In fact, the
pyramids weren’t even built yet, although Stonehenge was an active construction
site.
Other ancient trees are the giant sequoias of California in
the 3000 year old range and limber pines date back to the 3
rd to 5
th
centuries. East of the Mississippi, the oldest tree is a northern whitecedar in
Ontario, which was just a gangly teen of 1100 years old when Columbus sailed
the ocean blue. Other trees around the world are estimated to be over 3000
years old, with a yew in a Welsh churchyard that might come close to 5000 years
old.
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| Limber pine |
None of those ancients come close to the ages of some cloned
trees. Clones are genetically identical to the parent tree. Rather than
germinating from a seed, they grow from the parent tree’s root system.
Genetically identical Huon pines in Australia are estimated to be 3000 years
old. Norway spruces in Sweden, which normally live to be about 600, are growing
from live roots that are estimated at 9000 years old.
The king of ancient trees is the Pando in Utah. The Pando is
a grove of quaking aspens with about 47,000 trees growing from a single root
system. The individual trunk parts of the aspens average 130 years old, but the
entire system is estimated to be anywhere from 80,000 to a million years old.
The heaviest known organism in the world, the Pando recently made headlines
because it is dying. Like so much else in the world, the cause of death is
human activity.
This week's information comes from
Wikipedia, of all places. Not to be trusted as a reliable source, it's a great place to find lists.
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