List of oldest trees

Pando, an 80,000-year-old colony of quaking aspen, is the oldest known clonal tree, located in Utah, United States

This is a list of the oldest known trees, as reported in reliable sources. Definitions of what constitutes an individual tree vary. In addition, tree ages are derived from a variety of sources, including documented "tree-ring" count core samples, and from estimates. For these reasons, this article presents three lists of "oldest trees," each using varying criteria.

There are three tables of trees, which are listed by age and species. The first table includes trees for which a minimum age has been directly determined, either through counting or cross-referencing tree rings or through radiocarbon dating. Many of these trees may be even older than their listed ages, but the oldest wood in the tree has rotted away. For some old trees, so much of the centre is missing that their age cannot be directly determined. Instead, estimates are made based on the tree's size and presumed growth rate. The second table includes trees with these estimated ages. The last table lists clonal colonies in which no individual tree trunks may be remarkably old but in which the organism as a whole is thought to be very old.

The current record-holders for individual, non-clonal trees are the Great Basin bristlecone pine trees from California and Nevada, in the United States. Through tree-ring cross-referencing, they have been shown to be more than five millennia old.

A clonal colony can survive for much longer than an individual tree. A colony of 47,000 quaking aspen trees (nicknamed "Pando"), covering 106 acres (43 ha) in the Fishlake National Forest of Utah, is considered one of the oldest and largest organisms in the world. The colony has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although tree ring samples date individual, above-ground, trees at only an average of about 130 years.[1][2][3][4] A colony of Huon pine trees covering 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) on Mount Read, Tasmania is estimated to be around 10,000 years old, as determined by DNA samples taken from pollen collected from the sediment of a nearby lake. Individual trees in this group date to no more than 4,000 years old, as determined by tree ring samples.[5]

Individual trees with verified ages

Name Age
(years) 		Species Location Country Notes
? 5,066 Great Basin bristlecone pine
Pinus longaeva 		White Mountains, California United States Oldest known currently living tree. Tree cored by Edmund Schulman, age determined by Tom Harlan.[6]
Methuselah 4,848[nb 1] Great Basin bristlecone pine
Pinus longaeva 		Inyo County, California United States [6]
Prometheus
(WPN-114) 		4,844 Great Basin bristlecone pine
Pinus longaeva 		Wheeler Peak, Nevada United States Cut down in 1964.[6]
Gran Abuelo 3,645 Patagonian cypress
Fitzroya cupressoides 		Cordillera Pelada, Los Ríos Chile Alive.[6][8] Located within Alerce Costero National Park.[9]
Oliveira do Mouchão (KNJ1/601) 3,350 European olive tree

Olea europea L. var. europaea

 Mouriscas, Abrantes Portugal Alive.[10] [11]
CBR26 3,266 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Dead.[6]
D-21 3,220 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Dead.[6]
The President 3,200 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Alive.[6]
D-23 3,075 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Dead.[6]
CMC 3 3,033 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Dead.[6]
Scofield Juniper 2,675 Western Juniper
Juniperus occidentalis 		Sierra Nevada, California United States Dead.[6]
CB-90-11 2,459 Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine
Pinus aristata 		central Colorado United States [6][12]
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 2,302 Sacred fig
Ficus religiosa 		Anuradhapura, North Central Province Sri Lanka A sapling from the historical Bodhi tree under which the Buddha became enlightened. It was planted in 288 BC and is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date.[6]
? 2,200 Coast Redwood
Sequoia sempervirens 		northern California United States Dead.[6]
Bennett Juniper 2,200 Western Juniper
Juniperus occidentalis 		Sierra Nevada, California United States [6]
SHP 7 2,110 Foxtail Pine
Pinus balfouriana 		Sierra Nevada California United States [6]
? 1,943 Subalpine Larch
Larix lyallii 		Kananaskis, Alberta Canada [6][13]
CRE 175 1,889 Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum 		northern New Mexico United States [6]
Miles Juniper 1,828 Western Juniper
Juniperus occidentalis 		Sierra Nevada, California United States [6][14]
? 1,805 Sugi
Cryptomeria japonica 		Yakushima Island Japan[15]
KET 3996 1,718 Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis 		Ketchum, Idaho United States [6][16]
BFR-46 1,697 Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis 		Wasatch Mountains, Utah United States [6]
FL117 1,678 Northern Whitecedar
Thuja occidentalis 		Ontario Canada [6][17]
ERE 1,670 Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis 		northern New Mexico United States [6]
RCR 1 1,666 Foxtail Pine
Pinus balfouriana 		Sierra Nevada, California United States [6]
? 1,661 Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis 		South Park, Colorado United States [6]
BBL 2 1,649 Foxtail Pine
Pinus balfouriana 		Sierra Nevada, California United States [6]
BCK 69 1,650 Baldcypress
Taxodium distichum 		Bladen County, North Carolina United States [6][18]
? 1,636 Nootka Cypress
Callitropsis nootkatensis 		Vancouver Island Canada [6]
FL101 1,567 Northern Whitecedar
Thuja occidentalis 		Ontario Canada [6]
? 1,542 Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis 		central Colorado United States [6]

Old trees with estimated ages

Note: The ages of the trees in this list are speculative and probably unreliable.

Name Age
(years) 		Species Location Country Notes
? 4,112 Yew
Taxus baccata 		Zonguldak Turkey Alive, found in 2016.[19]
Llangernyw Yew 4,000–5,000 Common Yew
Taxus baccata 		Llangernyw, Conwy North Wales Girth of 10.75m. Situated in the churchyard of St. Dygain's Church in Llangernyw village. One of the 50 Great British Trees.
Sarv-e Abarkuh 4,000 Mediterranean cypress
Cupressus sempervirens 		Abarkuh, Yazd Iran Also called "Zoroastrian Sarv",[20][21]
The Senator 3,500 Pond cypress
Taxodium ascendens 		Longwood, Florida United States Destroyed by fire on January 16, 2012[22][23]
Alishan Sacred Tree 3,000 Formosan cypress
Chamaecyparis formosensis 		Alishan National Scenic Area, Chiayi Taiwan Collapsed on July 1, 1997, following heavy rainstorms.[24]
S’Ozzastru 3,000–4,000 Olive
Olea europaea 		Luras, Sardinia Italy [25]
Patriarca da Floresta 3,000 Cariniana legalis Santa Rita do Passa Quatro Brazil Probably the oldest non-conifer in Brazil. Its name translates as "Patriarch of the Forest".
Raintree 3,000 Great Basin bristlecone pine Spring Mountains, Nevada United States Great Basin Bristlecone Pine located near Kyle Canyon in the Spring Mountain range in Southern Nevada, USA. Estimated 3000 years old but never cored.
Oliveira de Santa Iria de Azóia 2,850 Olive
Olea europaea 		Santa Iria de Azóia, Loures, Lisbon Portugal Magnificent Olive tree, probably the last one from a large olive grove. Studied by UTAD University and now classified "Public interest tree" by the Portuguese National Forest Authority ; Tree ID [26]
Mother of the Forest 2,520 Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum 		Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California United States Dead.
Kayano Ōsugi 2,300 Japanese cedar
Cryptomeria japonica 		Yamanaka Onsen, Ishikawa Japan Girth of 9.6 m. One of the four trees believed to be sacred in the precincts in a Shinto shrine. Its name translates as "Great Sugi of Kayano".
Jōmon Sugi 2,170–7,200 Japanese cedar
Cryptomeria japonica 		Yakushima Japan Girth of 16.4 m. Exact dating is made difficult by the rotten core of the trunk. Its name is a reference to the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory.[27][28][29]
Koca Katran 2,022 Pinaceae
Cedrus liban 		Antalya Turkey Alive.[30]
Ballyconnell Yew 2,000–5,000 Yew
Taxus baccata 		Ballyconnell, Annagh Ireland Oldest tree in Ireland and possibly in Europe.
Fortingall Yew 2,000–3,000 Yew
Taxus baccata 		Fortingall, Perthshire Scotland Possibly the oldest tree in Britain[31]
Elia Vouvon 2,000–5,000 Olive
Olea europaea 		Kolymvari, Crete Greece Its name translates as "Olive Tree of Vouves".[32]
Castagnu dê Centu Cavaddi 2,000–4,000 Sweet chestnut
Castanea sativa 		Sicily Italy Its name translates as the "Hundred Horse Chestnut".
Ulleungdo Hyangnamu 2,000–3,000 Chinese Juniper
Juniperus chinensis 		Ulleung-gun, Gyeongbuk South Korea Girth of 4.5 m. One of the main branch was broken in 1985 by typhoon "Brenda".
Lady Liberty 2,000 Bald cypress
Taxodium distichum 		Longwood, Florida United States Sometimes called the "Companion Tree" to 'Senator".
Tnjri 2,000 Oriental plane
Platanus orientalis 		Martuni Region Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Oldest tree in Nagorno-Karabakh. Its trunk is hollow. Also known as "Sose's Tree".
Stara Maslina 2,000 Olive
Olea europaea 		Stari Bar, Bar Montenegro
The Pechanga Great Oak Tree 2,000 Coast live oak
Quercus agrifolia 		Temecula, California United States Oldest oak tree in the United States, possibly in the world.
? 2,000 Olive
Olea europaea 		Tavira, Algarve Portugal Possibly oldest olive tree in Portugal.[33]
? 2,000 Olive
Olea europaea 		Exo Hora, Zakynthos Greece [34]
? 2,000 Yew
Taxus 		Sochi, Krasnodar Krai Russia A grove known to possess several 2,000-year-old specimens.[35]
Houkisugi at Nakagawa 2,000 Japanese cedar
Cryptomeria japonica 		Nakagawa Settlement, Yamakita town, Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa Prefecture Japan
Methuselah 1,800Coast redwood
Sequoia sempervirens		Woodside, California United States [36]
Araucaria Madre 1,800 Araucaria Araucana Araucanía Chile Located in Parque Nacional Conguillío. 1.800 rings account for at least 1.800 years.[37]
Granit oak 1,700 Pedunculate oak
Quercus robur 		Granit Bulgaria
Kongeegen 1,500–2,000 Pedunculate oak
Quercus robur 		Jægerspris Nordskov, Zealand Denmark [38]
Stelmužė Oak 1,500-2,000 Pedunculate oak
Quercus robur 		Stelmužė, Zarasai Lithuania Oldest tree in the Baltic states. Supposedly oldest oak in Europe.
Aubépines 1,500 Common hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna 		Saint-Mars-sur-la-Futaie, Mayenne France Oldest tree in France.
Angel Oak 1,500 Southern live oak
Quercus virginiana 		Charleston, South Carolina United States Highly speculative, live oaks are extremely difficult to age, and rarely live more than 500 years.[39]
Seven Sisters Oak 1,500 Southern live oak
Quercus virginiana 		Mandeville, Louisiana United States Highly speculative, live oaks are extremely difficult to age, and rarely live more than 500 years.[39]
Jardine Juniper 1,500 Rocky Mountain juniper
Juniperus scopulorum 		Logan Canyon, Utah United States [40]
Árbol del Tule 1,433–1,600 Montezuma cypress
Taxodium mucronatum 		Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca Mexico Stoutest tree trunk in the world. Its name translates as the "Tule Tree".
Cedars of God 1000+ Cedrus libani
Cedars of Lebanon 		Mount Lebanon Lebanon Oldest forest of cedars in Lebanon[41]
Te Matua Ngahere 1,200–4,000 Kauri
Agathis australis 		Waipoua Forest, Northland New Zealand Oldest tree in New Zealand. Its name translates as "Father of the Forest".

Clonal trees

As with all long-lived plant and fungal species, no individual part of a clonal colony is alive (in the sense of active metabolism) for more than a very small fraction of the life of the entire clone. Some clonal colonies may be fully connected via their root systems, while most are not actually interconnected, but are genetically identical clones which populated an area through vegetative reproduction. Ages for clonal colonies, often based on current growth rates, are estimates.

Name Age
(years) 		Species Location Country Notes
Pando 80,000[42]–1,000,000[43] Quaking aspen
Populus tremuloides 		Fishlake National Forest, Utah United States Covers 107 acres (0.43 km2) and has around 47,000 stems (average age 130 years), which continually die and are renewed by its roots. Is also the heaviest known organism, weighing 6,000 tonnes.
Jurupa Oak[44] 13,000[45] Palmer oak
Quercus palmeri 		Jurupa Mountains, California United States Quercus palmeri Engelm. = Quercus dunnii Kellogg.[45]
Old Tjikko 9,550 Norway spruce
Picea abies 		Fulufjället National Park, Dalarna Sweden The tree's stems live no more than 600 years, but its root system's age[46][47] was established using carbon dating and genetic matching.[48] Elsewhere in the Fulu mountains, 20 spruces have been found older than 8,000 years.[49]
Old Rasmus 9,500 Norway spruce
Picea abies 		Härjedalen Sweden [50]
? 3,000[51]–10,000[52] Huon Pine
Lagarostrobos franklinii 		Mount Read, Tasmania Australia Several genetically identical males that have reproduced vegetatively. Although single trees in this stand may be around 3 to 4 thousand years old, the stand itself as a single organism has existed for 10,000 years.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ It is uncertain when Methuselah's age was determined, but "it seems likely the tree had 4,789 rings (crossdated) in the summer of 1957".[7] The age given here is based on this reference point.

References

  1. ↑ Grant, Michael C. (1 October 1993). "The Trembling Giant". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  2. ↑ "Botanical Record-Breakers". W.P Armstrong. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Quaking Aspen". National Park Service - Bryce Canyon. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "SPECIES: Populus tremuloides". USDA - United States Forest Service. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Native Conifers of Tasmania". Paks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 "Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, OLDLIST". Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Pinus longaeva". Gymnosperm Database. March 15, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  8. ↑ Lara, Antonio; Villalba, Ricardo (21 May 1993). "A 3620-Year Temperature Record from Fitzroya cupressoides Tree Rings in Southern South America". Science. 260 (5111): 1104–1106. doi:10.1126/science.260.5111.1104. PMID 17806339.
  9. ↑ "Parque Nacional Alerce Costero". Conaf.cl (in Spanish). National Forest Corporation. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.icnf.pt/portal/florestas/aip/resource/docs/certificados/KNJ1-478-Declaracao.pdf
  11. ↑ "FLORESTAS — ICNF" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  12. ↑ Brunstein, F. Craig; Yamaguchi, David K. (Aug 1992). "The Oldest Known Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pines (Pinus aristata Engelm.)". Arctic and Alpine Research. 24 (3): 253–256. doi:10.2307/1551666. JSTOR 1551666.
  13. ↑ Worrall, John (1990). "Subalpine Larch: Oldest Trees in Canada?". The Forestry Chronicle. 66: 478–479. doi:10.5558/tfc66478-5.
  14. ↑ Miles, D.H.; Worthington, M.J. (17–21 June 1998). "Sonora Pass junipers from California USA: construction of a 3,500-year chronology". In Stravinskiene, V.; Juknys, R. Dendrochronology and Environmental Trends - Proceedings of the International Conference. Kaunas, Lithuania: Vytautas Magnas University Department of Environmental Sciences.
  15. ↑ Suzuki, Eizi; Tsukahara, Jun (1987). "Age structure and regeneration of old growth Cryptomeria japonica forests on Yakushima Island". J. of Plant Research. 100 (3): 223–241. doi:10.1007/BF02492832.
  16. ↑ Schulman, E. (1956). Dendroclimatic Changes in Semiarid America. Tucson: Univ. of Ariz. Press.
  17. ↑ Larson, D. W.; Kelly, P. E. (1991). "The extent of old-growth Thuja occidentalis on cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment". Canadian Journal of Botany. 69 (7): 1628–1636. doi:10.1139/b91-206.
  18. ↑ Stahle, D. W.; Cleaveland, M. K.; Hehr, J. G. (10 June 1988). "North Carolina Climate Changes Reconstructed from Tree Rings: A.D. 372 to 1985". Science. 240 (4858): 1517–1519. Bibcode:1988Sci...240.1517S. doi:10.1126/science.240.4858.1517. PMID 17798982.
  19. ↑ "Oldest yew tree found in Turkey's north,". Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  20. ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica, s.v.
  21. ↑ "Trees in ancient Iran". Earthwatchers. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  22. ↑ Pavuk, Amy. "'The Senator' Catches Fire". Orlando Sentinel. Times Newspaper. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  23. ↑ Scheper, J. "Florida's Big Tree". Floridata.com. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  24. ↑ "Alishan Forest Recreation area has new "tree king"". Taipei Times. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  25. ↑ "A Luras il patriarca degli olivastri millenari d'Europa" (in Italian). COMUNE DI LURAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-11.
  26. ↑ "UTAD classificou oliveira com 2.850 anos!" (in Portuguese). CienciaPT. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  27. ↑ Hobson, Jake (2007). Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way. Timber Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-88192-835-8. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  28. ↑ Flora and Fauna Fact Sheet (Web Japan)
  29. ↑ Miyazaki, Makoto. "The old men of the mountains". The Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  30. ↑ "Locals want quarries out of Çığlıkara Forest,". Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  31. ↑ Bevan-Jones, Robert (2004). The ancient yew: a history of Taxus baccata. Bollington: Windgather Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-9545575-3-0.
  32. ↑ "The Olive Tree and Olive Oil". Sfakia-crete.com. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  33. ↑ "The oldest olive tree in Europe". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  34. ↑ "the-oldest-olive-tree pictures, videos and albums". Webshots.com. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  35. ↑ "О Кавказе". Wwf.ru. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  36. ↑ ""Methuselah" Redwood - Woodside, California". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  37. ↑ ""Parque de Araucarias Araucanas" - Chile: La edad milenaria e indefinida de las Araucarias Araucanas". parquedearaucarias.blogspot.cl. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
  38. ↑ "Kong Frederik den Syvendes Stiftelse Paa Jægerspris". Kongfrederik.dk. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  39. 1 2 Koder, K Live Oak, Pillars of a Nation. http://www.urbanforestrysouth.org/resources/library/citations/live-oak-pillars-of-a-nation/fss_get/file
  40. ↑ "Jardine Juniper Trail". Utahmountainbiking.com. 2001-08-31. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  41. ↑ The Gymnosperm Database - Cedrus libani (December, 2011) http://www.conifers.org/pi/Cedrus_libani.php
  42. ↑ Quaking Aspen by the Bryce Canyon National Park Service
  43. ↑ Genetic Variation and the Natural History of Quaking Aspen, Mitton, J. B. & Grant, M. C. (1996). BioScience 46 (1): 25-31.
  44. ↑ Connor, Steve (Science Editor), "At 13,000 years, tree is world's oldest organism", The Independent (newspaper), United Kingdom, December 23, 2009, online article December 22, 2009.
  45. 1 2 May, Michael R.; Provance, Mitchell C.; Sanders, Andrew C.; Ellstrand, Norman C.; and Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey, "A Pleistocene Clone of Palmer's Oak Persisting in Southern California", PLoS ONE, Vol. 4, Issue 12, December, 2009.
  46. ↑ "Swedes find 'world's oldest tree'". BBC News. 17 April 2008.
  47. ↑ Owen, James (14 April 2008). "Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden". National Geographic.
  48. ↑ "World's oldest living tree discovered in Sweden". Swedish Research Council. 16 April 2008.
  49. ↑ Roger Highfield (17 April 2008). "World's oldest tree discovered in Sweden". London: The Daily Telegraph.
  50. ↑ Swedish dn.se
  51. ↑ "The Oldest Living Tasmanian: The Huon Pine". Australian Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  52. ↑ "Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden". National Geographic News. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
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