![]() ![]() The ancient Great Basin bristlecone pine tree named “Methuselah” has been touted as the oldest identified living non-clonal organism on Earth yet it has always been suspected that an older Great Basin bristlecone pine tree may still be alive out there. Thanks to our Forest Service researchers and forest health managers, we found that Methuselah may have some competition. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live Alderman - thank you for your comment. Being in a category known to many scientists as extremeophiles the trees grow very slowly.īristlecone wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi and other potential pests. These hardy trees thrive on adversity, living in harsh conditions and high elevation (about 10,000 feet) where little else survives.įighting the elements for millennia, bristlecone pines have been exposed to extreme cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons. The storied bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below the tree line in mountainous regions of California, Nevada and Colorado. Over 4,789 years old, the age of Methuselah was determined by the measurement of core samples taken in 1957. To protect the oldest of all living things from vandalism, Methuselah precise location is undisclosed by the U.S. Methuselah is located in the Inyo National Forest and sits in a remote area between California's Sierra Nevada range and the Nevada border. The oldest of these near prehistoric pines is a tree nicknamed Methuselah (after Methuselah, the longest-lived person in the Bible). The Inyo National Forest is home to many bristlecone pines, thought to be the oldest living organisms on Earth.īristlecone pines are a small group of trees that reach an age believed by many scientists to be far greater than that of any other living organism known to man - up to nearly 5,000 years. ![]()
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