Methuselah (tree) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Methuselah is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine

Great Basin Bristlecone Pine

Pinus longaeva, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, is a long-living species of tree found in the higher mountains of the southwest United States. The species is one of three closely related trees known as bristlecone pines and is sometimes known as the Intermountain or Western bristlecone pine...

(Pinus longaeva) tree growing high in the White Mountains

White Mountains (California)

The White Mountains of California are a triangular fault block mountain range facing the Sierra Nevada across the upper Owens Valley. They extend for approximately as a greatly elevated plateau about wide on the south, narrowing to a point at the north, with elevations generally increasing...

of Inyo County

Inyo County, California

-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...

in eastern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Its measured age of 4,842 years makes it the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism. The ancient tree is named after Methuselah

Methuselah

Methuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 , at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood...

, a Biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

figure having the longest mentioned lifespan in the Bible of 969 years.

Geography

The tree grows at 2900–3000 m (9,514.4–9,842.5 ft) above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California. The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine trees grow between 9,800 and 11,000 feet above sea level, in xeric alpine conditions, protected within the Inyo National Forest...

within the Inyo National Forest

Inyo National Forest

Inyo National Forest is a federally administered forest in the United States. The forest covers parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. It contains two wilderness areas: the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness...

. Methuselah's exact location is undisclosed as a protection against vandalism.

Status as oldest known tree

"Methuselah" was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan, with an estimated germination date of 2832 BC. Methuselah is the oldest known living tree and non-clonal organism in the world—4,842 years old as of 2011.

Bristlecones

An older bristlecone specimen, WPN-114 and nicknamed Prometheus
Prometheus (tree)
Prometheus was the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, United States...

, was more than 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964, with an estimated germination date of 2880 BC. Another bristlecone tree, approximately 4,600 years old, is still living. A dendrochronology

Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...

, based on these trees and other bristlecone pine

Bristlecone pine

The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees that are thought to reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years....

samples, extends back to about 9000 BC, albeit with a single gap of about 500 years.

Clonal organisms

Other longer-lived discoveries are clonal colony

Clonal colony

A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet...

organisms: such as the 80,000 year old Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

clonal colony named "Pando"

Pando (tree)

Pando is a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen located in the U.S. state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers and one massive underground root system, although whether it is a single tree is disputed...

in the Fish Lake National Forest

Fish Lake National Forest

Fish Lake National Forest was established as the Fish Lake Forest Reserve by the General Land Office in Utah on February 10, 1899 with . After the transfer of federal forests to the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, it became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 Glenwood National Forest...

in south-central Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

; 11,700 year old Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) clonal colony, named "King Clone

King Clone

King Clone is thought to be the oldest Creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert is estimated to be 11,700 years old. It is considered one of the oldest living organisms on Earth...

", in the Mojave Desert

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...

near the Lucerne Valley

Lucerne Valley, California

Lucerne Valley is a census-designated place located in the Mojave Desert of western San Bernardino County, California. It lies east of the Victor Valley, whose population nexus includes Victorville, Apple Valley, and Hesperia...

in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

; and the 9,500 year old Norway spruce (Picea abies) clonal colony named "Old Tjikko

Old Tjikko

Old Tjikko is a 9,550 year old Norway Spruce tree, located on Fulufjället Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. Old Tjikko is the world's oldest living individual clonal tree, however, there are many examples of much older clonal colonies , such as "Pando", estimated to be over 80,000 years...

" in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

External links

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