The strangely twisted trunk, with its dense wood grain, kept Bristlecone pines healthy despite germinating five millennia before the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It was 1953, Dr Edmund Schulman was exploring Inyo Forest while studying ancient trees. He accidentally saw the ancient Bristlecone pine forest nestled over 3000 meters above sea level in the White Mountains, California, United States. Subsequent research revealed that Dr Schulman had discovered the location of the world’s oldest trees known to man.
Don’t be fooled by the size.
From previous research on giant sequoia trees, Dr Schulman suggested that the taller the tree, the older it should be. But that belief has changed. He realized that as far as the Bristlecone pines were concerned, the low, strangely twisted trees were the oldest.
In order to adapt to extreme weather conditions, these ancient Bristlecone pines grew slower and more densely. The dense wood grain also helps the tree resist insect damage and disease. With these protective measures, the twisted and winding Bristlecone pines of the White Mountains can live a very long life. One of the trees in the forest has lived to be over 5,000 years. This hidden gem is the oldest living sex tree in the world.
Dr Schulman first declared his astonishing discovery when he took several core samples from strange pine trees. He carried out analyzes of carrots and counted the rings of wood. Its discovery became evident when the number of wooden rings indicated that the tree sprouted before 2046 BC, which is over 4,000 years old.
Schulman named his oldest tree Methuselah, after the oldest man in the Hebrew Bible. However, the figure of Methuselah only lived to be 969 years old, and the Methuselah tree at that time (in 1953) was the oldest living tree in the world with an estimated age of 4,849 years.
The Methuselah tree was later eclipsed by an even older tree discovered in 2012 in the same area. This tree has earned the title of oldest tree in the world and is also a Bristlecone pine estimated to be 5,067 years old!
Surprisingly, he was still alive and well. This Bristlecone pine sprouted in 3050 BC, approximately 500 years before the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
To preserve and preserve the ancient pines, the location of the Methuselah tree and its “predecessor” tree has not been disclosed to the public.
White mountains
The White Mountains where the ancient “hidden” Bristlecone pine forest is made up of dolomitic soils. Very few plants and vegetation can survive in alkaline soil. Deeply rooted Bstlecone pines thrive here due to this lack of competition. Additionally, lightweight dolomite floors keep the floor cool and reflect heat, making it harder for water vapor to evaporate.
The White Mountains are also composed of red quartzite. Millions of years ago this region was a warm, shallow sea that was uplifted over time by plate tectonic activity. Sand, seashells, and mud on the seabed eventually turn into quartzite due to heat and pressure.
Threat of soil erosion xói
Soil erosion is the primary concern when it comes to the health of Bristlecone pines. Over the centuries and millennia, mountain soils have eroded and exposed softer roots to insects and disease. In the photo above, the soil has eroded more than a meter above its original height.
The oldest sex tree in the world
From a scientific point of view, the oldest tree in the world at White Mountain is of the sexual reproductive type (born from the fusion of male and female gametes, with the exchange and recombination of genome 2). Meanwhile, asexual plants (born without the fusion of male and female gametes) descend from a single ancestor and are genetically identical to that ancestor. There are many clones that are much older than the oldest tree in Inyo Forest. For example, Old Tjikko is the name of a Norwegian spruce tree that grows in Sweden. It is dated 9,550 years. But because he’s a clone, Old Tjikko isn’t the same plant his ancestors sprouted from. The Old Tjikko tree has regenerated new trunks, branches and roots over time. An even older tree is also a clone. It is a “Quaking Aspen” tree from Wyoming (USA) whose roots are estimated to be 80,000 years old. In fact, the “Aspen Quakes” is one of the oldest living things on Earth.
