Two things, actually. As you know, a couple of days ago I went to the Botanical Garden, where we looked at the oldest tree in our city - which isn't that old when you come to think about it. And the second thing was that today I came upon a video, and the most upvoted comment requested this topic.
So, here we are!
I shall start with clonal trees, because these are extremely cool in terms of survival. Clonal colonies can be made up of plants, fungi or bacteria, and they are all a group of genetically identical individuals that grew in a certain location from a single ancestor.
When it comes to plants, these colonies have interconnected roots that will send up new shoots. Also, when it comes to shrubs, if their branches ever touch the ground they may also form colonies (like willows and blackberries)
There are five of these colonies I could find over the internet.
5. A Huon Pine
It doesn't have a name, but I can tell you this: it lives in Mount Read, Tasmania, and it is 10.000 years old. Single trees in the colony are around 3-4000 years old.
4. Norway Spruce
Named Old Rasmus, this colony lives in Harjedalen, Sweden, and it has about 9500 years. It was discovered a couple of years ago.
3. Norway Spruce (another one!)
It is named Old Tjikko, and lives in Fulujallet National Park, Sweden. The stems live no more than 600 years, but the root system's is 9550 years old.
2. Palmer Oak
It might not look impressive, but the Jurupa Oak that lives in Riverside Country, California is about 13000 years old.
1. Quaking aspen
I already mentioned this beauty a couple of times before. Yes, this is Pando. It lives in Fishlake National Forest, Utah, it covers 107 acres and has 47000 stems, each of them living up to 130 years. The whole system, though, is aged somewhere between 80000 and 1000000 years old.
And now, let's go to oldest, individual - LIVING trees.
Remember that these are all currently living trees (there are quite a few of them that died out not too long ago, or that got cut down by assholes, like Prometheus that was probably more than 5000 years old and died at the hands of a graduate student who wanted to do some research).
All right, let me start with the bottom.
10. Giant Sequoia
General Sherman lives in the Giant Forest in the Sequoia National Park, California. It's estimated age is somewhere between 2300 and 2700 years.
9. Chestnut
This is the Hundred Horse Chestnut, and it is the oldest chestnut tree in the world. It is located on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily, 8 km far from the vulcano's crater. It is between 2000 and 4000 years old. It also has the greatest tree girth ever even though above ground it actually split in multiple large trunks.
8. Cryptomeria
You can find Jomon Sugi in Yakushima, Japan. It is the oldest and largest tree of its kind, and it is between 2170 and 7200 years old.
7. Olive
The Olive Tree of Vouves lives on Crete. It is the oldest Olive tree in the world, and it still produces olives today (thus, i'm guessing it would be pretty damn pricey to try it). It's age is between 2000 and 4000 years old.
6. Cariniana Legalis
Named Patriarca da Floresta, it lives in Brazil, and it is about 3000 years old. Although it is said that it's sacred, the species is threatened because of deforestation.
5. Giant Sequoia (another one!)
The President is also located In the giant Forest in California. It is 3200 years old, and the second largest tree in terms of volume in the world.
4. Alerce
This tree species is native to the Andes mountains. Most of them were cut down in the 19th and 20th centuries, but they are proclaimed to be the second longest living trees on Earth. The oldest tree of this kind is 3640 years old.
3. Yew
The Llangernyw Yew lives in North Wales, in a churchyard. Although it's hard to tell the age of yew trees it is between 4000 and 5000 years old. It took root in the prehistoric Bronze Age, and it is still healthy and growing today. According to a legend, the tree is inhabited by an ancient spirit.
2. Cupressus
Sarv-e Abar-Kuh lives in Iran, and it is 25 meters high. It is the second oldest tree in the world, its age also between 4000 and 5000 years.
1. Bristlecone
Methuselah lives in the White Mountains in California, and for many years it was the oldest known living non-colonial organism. It is 4845 years old.
The reason why I said that it WAS the oldest tree, is because recently another britlecone was discovered in the vicinity of it, that's even older. This tree doesn't have a name, but it is 5063 years old.
Their exact location isn't a public knowledge, because of possible vandalism.
