Methuselah (tree)
Methuselah is a 4844–4845-year-old[1] Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California.[2][3] For many years it was the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism, until superseded by the discovery of another bristlecone pine in the same area with an age of 5063 years (germination in 3051 BC).[1] The tree is named after Methuselah, a Biblical figure having the longest mentioned lifespan in the Bible of 969 years.
Contents |
Geography [edit]
The tree grows at 2,900 to 3,000 m (9,500 to 9,800 ft) above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest within the Inyo National Forest. Methuselah's exact location is undisclosed to protect it from vandalism.[3][4]
Status as oldest known tree [edit]
Methuselah was 4,789 years old when sampled (likely in 1957) by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan,[1] with an estimated germination date of 2832 BC. Methuselah was for many years considered the world's oldest living tree, until the 2013 announcement of the discovery of an older bristlecone pine.[1]
Other ancient trees [edit]
Bristlecones [edit]
Another bristlecone specimen, WPN-114 and nicknamed "Prometheus", was more than 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964, with an estimated germination date of 2880 BC. A dendrochronology, based on these trees and other bristlecone pine samples, extends back to about 9000 BC, albeit with a single gap of about 500 years.[5][3]
Clonal organisms [edit]
Other, longer-lived discoveries are clonal colony organisms, such as the 80,000-year-old Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) clonal colony named "Pando" in the Fish Lake National Forest in south-central Utah; 11,700-year- old Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) clonal colony, named "King Clone", in the Mojave Desert near the Lucerne Valley in California; and the 9,500-year-old Norway spruce (Picea abies) clonal colony named "Old Tjikko" in Sweden.[6][7][8]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d "Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research OldList". Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Accessed March 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c Ancient Bristlecone Pine Natural History. Accessed March 11, 2013
- ^ Methuselah Walk. U.S. Forest Service/Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association.
- ^ Hall, Carl (1998-08-23). "Staying Alive". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Creosote Bush: Long-Lived Clones in the Mojave Desert, Frank C. Vasek, American Journal of Botany, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Feb., 1980), pp. 246-255
- ^ http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=11165 Larrea tridentata - King Clone
- ^ Science Daily: World's Oldest Living clonal tree, 9550 years old, Discovered In Sweden
Coordinates: 37°23′07″N 118°10′38″W / 37.38528°N 118.17722°W
External links [edit]
- www.fs.usda.gov — Inyo National Forest official Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest site
- www.fs.usda.gov — Inyo National Forest: The Natural History of the Bristlecone Pines
