Tree of the week

Good morning. Take a deep breath and forget about foreclosures and bailouts for a minute. Think about the trees that live for thousands of years. Seriously. Pieter Severynen's Tree of the Week explains.

"California is home to the world’s oldest, largest, and tallest known living trees, although the actual champions grow north of here, not in the Southland itself. They are the subjects of the next three columns.

"The oldest tree: Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva

"Bristlecone pines grow in some of the harshest environments on Earth: sub-alpine zones between 10,000 and 11,000’ high, where temperatures range from 158º F to –15º F, soils are thin and poor; yearly precipitation is only 10”; and frequent lightning, storms and drought damage the trees so badly that they look more dead than alive. During the 6-week to 3-month growing season the trunk may increase less than 1/100 of an inch in girth. Survival is the name of the game here: the needles last for 25-30 years; bark and tissue die back to the minimum necessary to absorb the limited nutrient production; dense resinous wood resists fungi and insects; and cones with viable seeds are produced till the trees’ very end, which is counted in millennia.

"In 1953 dendrochronologist Edmund Schulman heard a rumor about these ancient trees growing in California’s White-Inyo Mountain Range. He found several in the 3,000 to 4,000 year age range. In 1957 he discovered ‘Methuselah’, then 4,723 years old. As far as we know it is the world’s oldest living tree. The U.S. Forest Service established the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, but ‘Methuselah’ is not identified to thwart vandalism. Actually, the oldest known tree, nicknamed ‘Prometheus’, stood near Wheeler Peak, eastern Nevada. In 1964 graduate student Donald Currey (who may not have known it was the oldest) made the incredible decision to cut it down ‘for research purposes’. It turned out to be over 5,000 years old.

"Depending on location, the tree grows slowly to exceedingly slowly to 20+’ tall, and 15’ wide. It is dense, bushy, heavy trunked; it carries its 1-1.5” long needles 5 to a bunch or fascicle; the dark purplish brown cones are 3.5” long; branches become fantastically gnarled. We are more likely to see it here as a bonsai, rock garden or container plant than a garden tree. In 1970 bristlecone pines, which grow in isolated areas in the six southwestern states, were found to be not one species, P. aristata, but two: the westernmost ones were reclassified as P. longaeva.

"Analysis of the trees’ annual growth rings gave us new insight in past climatic events.  It is ironic that global warming now threatens these ancient patriarchs and matriarchs themselves with extinction."

Thanks, Pieter.
E-mail Pieter: plseve@earthlink.net
Photo credit: Ian Parker. See Ian's work at Evanescent Light

Comments

[anon1137]

Thanks Pieter. I love this part of Peter's blog.

Everyone should try to take a walk among the Bristlecone pines in the White Mtns off Hwy 395. It's truly an eerie experience, knowing those trees have been growing there for thousands of years. A very special place.

[msprompt]

thanks, guys. I, too. love this part of the blog. beautiful.

[Brent]

Count me as a fan too.

[fezco]

I was expecting to see some type of 'backyard' tree for the week, but to my surprise an Ancient Bristlecone! Well done Peter! Next time you're on the way to Mammoth, and just before Bishop, hang a right at Big Pine to go to see the ancients. The White Mountains are an amazing place and the visit to the 'Ancient Forest' is well worth the trip. On a clear day you can see 100's of miles east well into Nevada.
Here's some more info:
http://sonic.net/bristlecone/

[Uncle Billy]

I like old stuff. Gives us perspective. Check this out:

"The universe is 13.73 billion years old"

http://tinyurl.com/2lqxy5

Bad news: there is tremendous inflation.

And it's cyclical, just like the housing market.

[Laker]

How about we find a tree that kill mosquitoes?
It will help better than the fish...

[Maggie Knowles]

I visited one of these trees near the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell in the Angeles National Forrest, It's estimated to be 1500-2000 years old.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

I love Bristlecone pines. It's one of my favorite trees along with Ombu, Quebracho and Baobab, the oldest of which is said to be over 4,000 year old.

And I also like Aspen or Creosote Bush clonal colonies which can be over 10 of thousand yeras old, throuhg naturally occuring cloning.

That guy who attacked the agent in Corona, I hope they will put him in jail longer than these trees and clonal colonies will be alive.