World's Oldest Trees

First of all, the tree shown on this post is not the world's oldest tree. It is really old, though. Yeah, like 3,200 years worth of old! I decided to go with this image because, to me, the giant sequoia trees are the most prehistoric/ancient looking. In fact, giant sequoias are the world's largest single trees by volume. These magnificent trees grow to an average height of 164 to 279 feet with a freakin' diameter of 20 to 26 feet! Of course, they can get much larger, but that is on average, if that tells ya anything.

Anyway, when it comes to determining the world's oldest trees, some of the answers seem to vary. Personally, I don't really count the clonal trees that constantly grow new trees from the same root structure albeit some folks really get off on such things. It is like, "Hey, look at that 9,550-year-old Norway spruce tree! Well, the tree isn't that old but some of the root structure may be." Say what? Yeah, they can produce exact copies, or clones, if you will...

Then, there are the ones with "estimated years of existence" and so on. I thought they were all estimates, in a way. I mean, it is not like we were actually there to see 'em back then, but there is some varying criteria used and a variety of sources, estimations, tree-ring counts, and whatnot involved.

Not too long ago, the Methuselah was considered the oldest non-clonal tree in the world, at 4,841 to 4,845 years old (don't ask why two different sources reported 2 different ages). The oldest individual tree (non-clonal) I recently read about was 5,063 years old and is located in White Mountains, California. However, I still like the giant sequoias the best and I will always favor them when it comes to the antiquity of trees; cheers!

Side Note: Although it is not usually found on a list for individual longevity, you can't get much more of an older species than Gingko Biloba (a.k.a. Maidenhair Tree). I have read about them being 1,400 years old, but the species itself is thought to have been around during the Dinosaur Era!  Now that's old! I once wrote about this tree on a health blog, here: Health & Fitness Blog: Ginkgo Biloba supplement or just a pretty tree? (health-fitness-guru.blogspot.com)

Related Links to further your reading:
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_trees
* www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the-worlds-10-oldest-living-trees/methuselah [That link now redirects, here: The World's 10 Oldest Living Trees (treehugger.com)]

Image Credit: This work has been released into the Public Domain by its author at the English Wikipedia project.

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