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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 center is missing that their age cannot be directly determined. Instead, estimates are made based on the tree's size and presumed growth rate. The last table includes trees with these estimated ages. The middle 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 record-holders for individual, non-clonal trees are Great Basin bristlecone pine trees from California and Nevada, in the United States. Through tree-ring cross-referencing, they have been shown to be almost 5,000 years 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 the United States, 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 1 hectare (2.5 acres) 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]
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.[8]
Name | Age (years) | Species | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pando | 80,000[9] - 1,000,000[10] | 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[11] | 13,000[12] | Palmer oak Quercus palmeri |
Jurupa Mountains, California, United States | Quercus palmeri Engelm. = Quercus dunnii Kellogg.[12] |
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[13][14] was established using carbon dating and genetic matching.[15] Elsewhere in the Fulu mountains, 20 spruces have been found older than 8,000 years.[16] |
Old Rasmus | 9,500 | Norway spruce Picea abies |
Härjedalen, Sweden | [17] |
? | 3,000[18] - 10,000[19] | 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] |
Name | Age (years) | Species | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Llangernyw Yew | 4,000 | European yew Taxus baccata |
Llangernyw, Wales, United Kingdom | [20] |
Sarv-e-Abarkooh | 4,000 | Mediterranean cypress Cupressus sempervirens |
Abarkuh, Yazd, Iran | Also called 'Zoroastrian Sarv'.[21][22] |
Tisbury Yew Tree | 4,000 | European yew Taxus baccata |
Tisbury, England, United Kingdom | [23] |
Senator | 3,500 | Pond cypress Taxodium ascendens |
Longwood, Florida, United States | [24] |
Alishan Sacred Tree | 3,000 | Formosan cypress Chamaecyparis formosensis |
Alishan National Scenic Area, Chiayi, Taiwan | Collapsed on July 1, 1997, following heavy rainstorms.[25] |
Cormac's Tree | 3,000 | Olive Olea europaea |
Sardinia, Italy | [26] |
Patriarca da Floresta | 3,000 | Cariniana legalis | Brazil | Probably the oldest non-conifer in Brazil. Its name translates as 'Patriarch of the Forest'. |
Oliveira de Santa Iria de Azóia | 2,850 | Olea europaea | Santa Iria de Azóia, Portugal | Magnific Olive tree, probably the last one from a big olive grove. Studied by UTAD University and now classified "Public interest tree" by the Portuguese National Forest Authority ; Tree ID |
Unnamed | 2,850 | Oleaceae Olea europaea L. |
Loures, Lisboa, Portugal | Alive.[27] |
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.[28][29][30] |
Ballyconnell Yew | 2,000 - 5,000 | European yew Taxus baccata |
Ballyconnell, Annagh, Ireland | Oldest tree in Ireland and possibly in Europe. |
Fortingall Yew | 2,000 - 5,000 | European yew Taxus baccata |
Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland | |
Εlia Βouybōn | 2,000 - 5,000 | Olive Olea europaea |
Kolymvari, Crete, Greece | Oldest olive tree in the world. Its name translates as 'Olive tree of Vouves'.[31] |
Castagnu dê Centu Cavaddi | 2,000 - 4,000 | Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa |
Sicily | Its name translates as the 'Hundred Horse Chestnut'. |
Te Matua Ngahere | 2,000 - 3,000 | Kauri Agathis australis |
Waipoua Forest, Northland, New Zealand | Oldest tree in New Zealand. Its name translates as 'Father of the Forest'. |
Ankerwycke Yew | 2,000 - 2,500 | european yew Taxus baccate |
Ankerwyke Island, Berkshire, UK | Historians agree this is the most obvious place for the signing of the Magna Carta on June 15 1215 [32] |
Lady Liberty | 2,000 | Bald cypress Taxodium distichum |
Longwood, Florida, United States | Sometimes called the 'Companion Tree' to 'Senator'. |
S'khtorashen | 2,000 | Oriental plane Platanus orientalis |
Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan | Oldest tree in Azerbaijan. 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 | Oldest 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] |
Granit oak | 1,700 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur |
Granit, Plovdiv, Bulgaria | This is not official; the oldest tree in Bulgaria is officially Baikushev's Pine, listed below. |
Aubépines | 1,500 | Common hawthorn Crataegus monogyna |
Saint-Mars-sur-la-Futaie, Mayenne, France | Oldest tree in France. |
Kongeegen | 1,500 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur |
Jægerspris Nordskov, Zealand, Denmark | |
Angel Oak | 1,500 | Southern live oak Quercus virginiana |
Charleston, South Carolina, United States | |
Seven Sisters Oak | 1,500 | Southern live oak Quercus virginiana |
Mandeville, Louisiana, United States | |
Stelmužė Oak | 1,500 | Pedunculate oak Quercus robur |
Stelmužė, Zarasai, Lithuania | Oldest tree in the Baltic states. |
Jardine Juniper | 1,500 | Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum |
Logan Canyon, Utah, United States | [36] |
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'. |
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