The fact that the location of the world’s oldest tree has to be kept secret encapsulates everything that’s bad about humanity.
There’s a story about that, actually.
According to the smithsonianmag.com, the world’s oldest bristlecone pine was a nearly 5,000 year old tree later named Prometheus. In 1964, a man named Donald Rusk Currey decided to use an increment borer to determine its age (a process that cuts a small hole into the center of the tree trunk, and is not intended to kill the tree). Unfortunately, the borer got stuck. He and a park ranger cut the tree down to remove the equipment, and when they counted the tree rings, they realized their mistake. Oops. This incident lead to better protection of the remaining bristlecone pines.
There’s some wiggle room about what can be called “the world’s oldest living tree.” The world’s oldest living single tree is the tree that the OP is referring to. Its name is Methuselah,and it is also around 5,000 years old. Since its location is unknown, nobody knows what it looks like. But it might be this tree here:
But technically, it isn’t the oldest living tree. Let me explain.
It turns out that root systems of trees can send up genetically identical saplings (aka clones) via their root systems. Like so:
Which means the original trunk can die, but since the root system is attached to other trees which give it nutrients, it lives on. The root system can theoretically do this indefinitely. So the tree trunks could be fairly young, but the roots could be large and very, very, very old. So the oldest “tree” isn’t a small grove, it’s a logic-defyingforest.
I’d like you to meet Pando.
This male quaking aspen covers 106 acres and is ancient. I’m talking an estimate of 80,000 years. The trees you can see are just “shoots” he sent up, and their average age is 130 years old. He is his own forest. If trees could talk, I’d love to hear what he had to say.
He might be dying, due to insects and drought (hmm, wonder what could have happened to cause that). A section of Pando is being studied in an attempt to find a solution. But in the meantime, we can enjoy him for his beauty.
cataradical liked this
support-your-local-cryptid reblogged this from wills-sollace
moonstonecockatiel reblogged this from wills-sollace
gskavshabdysnan reblogged this from gaylibertariansc craniumcase reblogged this from nololmaybe
midorikittykun liked this
cinnaminnt reblogged this from tuscedomask
didsomeonesayventus liked this
predictablyterrible reblogged this from shounensjpg
tuscedomask reblogged this from info-worms
rizzles-me-this reblogged this from info-worms
info-worms reblogged this from shounensjpg
kiriharas liked this
shounensjpg reblogged this from tierse
tierse reblogged this from nervousyounginhumans
sarita666 liked this
thunder-the-wolf liked this
crushedbutterfly reblogged this from phoenix-angel-suyari
berserk-al liked this
your-captain-foshee reblogged this from dragonsgirl
dragonsgirl reblogged this from undergrounderis
karafuto-chan reblogged this from lightblindingme
amanda-enigma-references reblogged this from cryptidfucky dailyfictionalblackgirls liked this
dataprincess reblogged this from adhdmissroxyspamcake
hannah-boo-boo reblogged this from vintjulep
safestsephiroth reblogged this from shadowkat678
babybellcheese reblogged this from philipsheaisbae
yesleoxnicofan reblogged this from philipsheaisbae
silentassassin21 liked this
warriorwerewolfheart liked this
seaskiies reblogged this from philipsheaisbae
philipsheaisbae reblogged this from waldenbeckboys
confessionsofafulltimenerd liked this
hardly-noticeable reblogged this from miss-fiery
whoviannerdie reblogged this from miss-fiery
geminidaydreamer liked this
waldenbeckboys reblogged this from miss-fiery
miss-fiery reblogged this from utteradoxography
showerthoughtsofficial posted this