Ancient cypress in Chile may be the world’s oldest tree, new study suggests

[Still Waters]

Scientists in Chile believe that a conifer with a four-metre-thick trunk known as the Great-Grandfather could be the world’s oldest living tree, beating the current record-holder by more than 600 years.

A new study carried out by Dr Jonathan Barichivich, a Chilean scientist at the Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory in Paris, suggests that the tree, a Patagonian cypress, also known as the alerce milenario, could be up to 5,484 years old.

If his findings are proven, the Alerce Milenario would outstrip a 4,853-year-old bristlecone pine in California known as Methuselah, and now thought to be the oldest tree, by 600 years.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/26/worlds-oldest-tree-cypress-chile

[acute]

Chop it down and count the growth rings.

Easy peasy! 

[Tatetopa]

29 minutes ago, acute said:

Chop it down and count the growth rings.

Easy peasy! 

Sad story about that.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-one-man-accidentally-killed-the-oldest-tree-ever-125764872/

How One Man Accidentally Killed the Oldest Tree Ever

In 1964, Donal Rusk Currey killed the oldest tree ever. It was a Bristlecone pine, and here’s why they live so long

[Piney]

31 minutes ago, acute said:

Chop it down and count the growth rings.

Easy peasy! 

Since your head is already sharpened to a point just volunteer yourself as a core auger.

[acute]

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

Somehow... "It's really in poor condition because of tourism," he told Live Science." <------- I ain't buying this.

[Doug1066]

On 5/26/2022 at 8:25 AM, Still Waters said:

Scientists in Chile believe that a conifer with a four-metre-thick trunk known as the Great-Grandfather could be the world’s oldest living tree, beating the current record-holder by more than 600 years.

It's not.  The world's oldest single-stemmed tree is a Norway spruce in northern Sweden that is 9560 years old.  Also, there are two Huon pines, one in Tasmania and one in Indonesia that are over 10,000 years old.  And an aspen, Clone Pando, in Utah is at least 80,000 years old.

All those are living trees.  There is a dead bristlecone pine that may be older.  I'll have to check.

Doug

[Doug1066]

On 5/26/2022 at 8:25 AM, Still Waters said:

A new study carried out by Dr Jonathan Barichivich, a Chilean scientist at the Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory in Paris, suggests that the tree, a Patagonian cypress, also known as the alerce milenario, could be up to 5,484 years old.

 

15 hours ago, Doug1066 said:

There is a dead bristlecone pine that may be older. 

That dead tree is a bristlecone pine.  It lived to an age of 5062 years, so it didn't quite beat out the Patagonian cypress above.

I listed the following trees in my program "Older Than History."  I tried to include pictures of each tree, but the files were too big for UM.

1.  Indian Tree.  Miners Park, Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico.  Ponderosa pine.  Age:  c. 400 years.  The tree has a large scar from Indian pitch-harvesting.  We know it's not a firescar because it doesn't go clear to the ground.

     Oldest known ponderosa pine:  Old Pine, Pine Siding, Mancos, Colorado.  Age:  c. 1200 years.  Reported by Enos Mills, first Superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Tree was cut in 1909.

2.  Mother-of-the-Forest.  Graham Mountain, Saffolk, Arizona.  Douglas-fir.  Age:  c. 700 years.  Killed by Graham Mountain Fire, 1998.

3.  Methuselah.  White Mountain National Forest, California.  Bristlecone pine.  Age:  4841 years.  Location is kept secret to prevent damage from vandals.  A shrine for dendrochronologists.

4.  Chestnut-Tree-of-100-Horses.  Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy.  Chestnut.  Age:  2000-4000 years.  Used as a stable by a Roman Legion.

5.  General Sherman.  Sequoia National Park, California.  Redwood.  Age:  c. 2500 years.

6.  Sarv Abarqu.  Babylon, Iraq.  Cedar-of-Lebanon.  Age:  over 4200 years.  Tree stands within sight of the foundations of the Tower of Babel.

7.  Llangernyw.  North Wales.  Juniper.  Age:  c. 4000 years.

8.  Alerce.  Chile, South America.  Fitzroyal cypress.  Age:  c. 3600 years.

9.  The Senator.  Big Tree Park, Longwood, Florida.  Bald-cypress.  Age:  c. 3500 years.

10.  Patriarca de Floresta.  Santa Rita do Passo Quatro, Brazil.  Age:  c. 3000 years.  Oldest non-conifer in Brazil.

11.  Olive Tree of Vouves.  Ana Vouves, Kolymvari, Chania, Crete, Greece.  Olive.  Age:  2000-4000 years.  Tree is hollow.  Age determined by 14C.

12.  Old Tjikko.  Fulufjallet Mountain, Dalama, Sweden.  Norway Spruce.  Age:  9560 years in 2022.  Tree is named for the discoverer's dog.  Tundra growth form.

13.  Unnamed.  World's oldest ring-dated tree.  White Mountain National Forest, California.  Age:  5062 years when it died.

14.  Unnamed.  Lake Johnston Nature Preserve, Mount Reed, Tasmania, Australia.  Age:  c. 2000 years (Clone age:  c. 10,500 years).  Australia's oldest tree.

15.  King Clone.  Mojave Desert, Lucerne Valle - Landers, California.  Creosote Bush; greasewood.  Age:  c. 11,700 years.  Older than the desert it lives in.

16.  King's Holly.  Bathurst Mountain, Tasmania, Australia.  Age:  43,600 to 135,000 years.

17.  Clone Pando.  Bear Mountain, Utah.  Quaking aspen.  Age of clone:  80,000 to 1,000,000 years.  Clone occupies 106 acres.

It's not a tree, but some papyrus clones are more than 5000 years old.  Moses' bullrushes may still be alive.

Doug

Edited June 13, 2022 by Doug1066

[Doug1066]

On 5/26/2022 at 11:52 AM, Tatetopa said:

Sad story about that.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-one-man-accidentally-killed-the-oldest-tree-ever-125764872/

How One Man Accidentally Killed the Oldest Tree Ever

In 1964, Donal Rusk Currey killed the oldest tree ever. It was a Bristlecone pine, and here’s why they live so long

There's another way to extract a stuck increment borer.  Take a rope, tie to two different trees and loop the middle around handle of the increment borer.  Then start backing it out of the tree.  As the rope tightens around the handle, it exerts an increasing pull on the borer, hopefully pulling it out of the tree (or breaking the handle).

Doug 

[Tatetopa]

45 minutes ago, Doug1066 said:

There's another way to extract a stuck increment borer.  Take a rope, tie to two different trees and loop the middle around handle of the increment borer.  Then start backing it out of the tree.  As the rope tightens around the handle, it exerts an increasing pull on the borer, hopefully pulling it out of the tree (or breaking the handle).

Doug 

Makes me happy for 2 reasons.  I thought you might know something and I am glad it wasn't you.

[Doug1066]

9 hours ago, Tatetopa said:

Makes me happy for 2 reasons.  I thought you might know something and I am glad it wasn't you.

We have already drawn and quartered him.

Doug

[Doug1066]

On 6/12/2022 at 4:43 PM, Earl.Of.Trumps said:

Somehow... "It's really in poor condition because of tourism," he told Live Science." <------- I ain't buying this.

Buy it or not, trampling on a tree's root system damages it, particularly if it's on a weak soil.  Enough of this can kill a tree.  We have a park near here that just placed gravel for a parking lot over the root systems of some 100+-year old oaks, killing around 50 of them.  Trees are extremely sensitive about their roots.

Doug

Edited June 14, 2022 by Doug1066

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

6 hours ago, Doug1066 said:

Buy it or not, trampling on a tree's root system damages it, particularly if it's on a weak soil.  Enough of this can kill a tree.  We have a park near here that just placed gravel for a parking lot over the root systems of some 100+-year old oaks, killing around 50 of them.  Trees are extremely sensitive about their roots.

Doug

Yeah, Doug. I may have misspoken there. But I look at how huge that tree is and wonder if anything could ever hurt it.