What is the longest living species of tree?

Question

I wish to know so that I can plant one as my 'family tree'

(see Ringing Cedars series of books to understand background to this question)

Answer 1

Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva)

The bristlecones of Wheeler Peak in Nevada were believed to be older than those found in California. In 1964 a geology student called Donald R. Currey came to Wheeler Peak to study ice age glaciers, partly by collecting tree ring data. Using coring tools, he identified trees over 4,000 years old.

The oldest tree now living is a 4,600+ year old bristlecone called "Methuselah" in the White Mountains of California. Some reports have it as 4,789 years old.

Answer 2

The oldest tree in the world is the called the Methuselah Tree.  It is a Great Basin bristlecone pine. Its scientific name is Pinus aristata, also known as Pinus longaeva. This wind-blasted, gnarled tree is 4,767 years old, and is located in California's White Mountains.” There are many other trees in this area which are almost as old.

As a side note, Annual rings in a tree trunk are not strictly annual.  Depending on the weather of any given year, it is common for a tree to have an extra ring every few years.

Answer 3

Probably the Bristle cone pine .

But Cycads can also get many hundreds of years old

and they are just about the oldest species .

they were around with the dinosaurs

In third place maybe the redwood

and then fig trees

Answer 4

The Bristlecone Pine tree is the answer to your question.  

I grew up in Big Pine, California - where Highway 168 intersects with Highway 395...  The only way to drive to the Bristlecone Pine forest is by traveling along Highway 168 and going up Westguard Pass, and then turn onto White Mountain Road.  

From the website I reference below:

"Earth's oldest living inhabitant "Methuselah" at 4,767 years, has lived more than a millennium longer than any other tree."

"During the following two years of 1954 and 1955, an extensive search from California to Colorado was carried out by Dr. Schulman and his assistant C.W. Ferguson. They found the oldest trees at elevations of 10,000 to 11,000 feet (3048 to 3354m), often growing in seemingly impossible locations. These trees showed large areas of die back (deadwood) and thin strips of living bark. The trees growing in the most extreme conditions, with scant soil and moisture, seemed to be the oldest! Several trees in the 3,000 to 4,000+ year range were discovered. All but one were found in the White-Inyo Range, so Schulman devoted his attention to this area. The first tree proven over four thousand years old he aptly named "Pine Alpha". Later in 1957 "Methuselah" was found to be 4,723 years old and remains today the world's oldest known living tree."

Pinus longaeva is the species of Bristlecone found in Nevada & California, while Pinus aristata is found in Colorado and a very small area of Arizona.  

More from the website:  

"The bristlecone pines have survived for unknown centuries. The current threat is from all the people who come to visit them. "Methuselah", the oldest tree, is not marked due to the threat of vandalism. The recording of past events provided by these trees, along with the great beauty are too valuable for us to lose. The bristlecones will survive on their own, but we must have enough respect for their place in the environment to assure their recordings of events yet to occur."

And one last part from the website - showing how "science" and "research" led to the death of the oldest known living organism on the planet...

"When this student and his associate came upon the bristlecones at the timberline, they began to take core samples from several trees, discovering one to be over 4,000 years old! Needless to say they were excited, and at some point, their only coring tool broke. The end of the field season was nearing. They asked forand I still can't believe it!were granted permission by the U.S. Forest Service to cut the tree down. It was "Prometheus".

After cutting the trunk at a convenient level, which happened to be more than eight feet above the original base, 4,844 rings were counted. This student had just killed the oldest living thing on earth! Eventually, dendrochronologist Don Graybill determined the tree to be 4,862 years of age."

Go to the website and read all about the Bristlecone Pines...  And if you ever get the opportunity to travel to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, and the White Mountains, take the time to go to the Bristlecone Pine forest.  

It's something you will remember for the rest of your life - just because of the sheer AGE of those trees, and how they survive in an extremely hostile (to other organisms) area.

EDIT:  If you're looking for a tree to plant as a family heirloom, a Bristlecone Pine probably isn't what you're looking for.  They are slow growing trees, that generally survive in an extremely harsh environment.  Perhaps a tree such as an oak, maple, or even a spruce or cedar would be a better choice for what you want...  There are many other types of trees that can inspire / teach a person.  

Good luck with your search!

Answer 5

i thnk the banyan i rite

Answer 6

The bristlecone pine.  About 2000 years or so.

Answer 7

there is a chain of trees in colorado that is the largest, they are all connected by roots.  I think it is a type of pine, not sure.

Answer 8

In addition to the excellent answers given above, I would like to mention the Yew Tree. The largest Yew tree forest in Europe is Kingley Vale north of Chichester, West Sussex, England, where some of the trees are estimated to be at least 2,000 years old. (Kingley Vale is well worth a visit if you are interested in trees and the natural landscape). Additionally English Oak trees often live for 900 to 1,000 years, their last 300 years of life being spent rotting slowly, giving us in their old age, the beautiful sight of a hollow trunk.

Answer 9

ya the redwood

Answer 10

Hans B is correct. However, there is another species--the "quaking aspen" tha tis sometimes considered to be even longer-lived.  This species of aspen can send out shoots (dendrites) tha tcan develop into new trunks, complete with leaves, etc.  Thus, as old trunks die off, new ones grow.  One "grove" of quaking aspen in Utah is believed to be much older than the Methuselah bristlecone--perhaps as much as one million years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(Quak...

(Usually Idon't use wikipedia--but this article is accurate)

Answer 11

I believe California Redwoods are the longest lived. Some have been in existence since Christ's day.