Great Trees of the World
1. The Oldest Tree in the World
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It's not always easy to date a living tree, but most experts agree that a bristlecone pine tree (Pinus longaeva) in California's Inyo National Forest,
nicknamed Methuselah, was 4,843 years old in 2012. Another bristlecone
pine growing in Nevada was cut down in 1964 to be age-dated -- that
tree, nicknamed Prometheus, was 4,844 years old when the tree was killed.
The exact location of Methuselah (and many other famous trees) is kept
secret due to fears of vandalism. Other contenders for world's oldest
tree include the Llangernyw Yew in North Wales, estimated to be 4,000 to
5,000 years old, and an evergreen Fitzroya cupressoides in Chile that's 3,622 years old.
2. The World's Oldest Clonal Trees
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The
record above for the world's oldest tree is for a single individual, or
non-clonal, tree. But some trees grow as clones of a parent tree
through a very old root system. Such is the case with Old Tjikko, a
Norway spruce tree (Picea abies) that's been growing in Sweden
for an estimated 9,550 years. But even that old-timer pales in
comparison to the clonal cluster of quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides)
in Utah -- genetic testing has revealed that this small forest of
clonal trees, named Pando, is about 80,000 years old. Considered to be
one organism, it's estimated weight is over 6,000 tons, making it not
only the oldest living thing on Earth, but also the heaviest.
3. The Largest Tree in the World
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In terms of sheer volume, the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
known as General Sherman is a monster of a tree -- at 52,508 cubic
feet, it's the world's largest tree, and perhaps the world's largest
living thing. General Sherman is located in California's Sequoia National Park and is one of the park's premier attractions. The closest rival is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens),
nicknamed Lost Monarch, located somewhere in Jedediah Smith Redwoods
State Park in northern California. Lost Monarch measures about 42,500
cubic feet.
4. The Tallest Tree in the World
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California
is home to several record-busting trees, including the tallest tree in
the world: Hyperion, a 379.1-foot-tall coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) located somewhere in Redwood National Park (the exact location is a secret, due to concerns over vandalism). Centurion, a eucalyptus tree (Eucalyptus regnans) in Tasmania, is next in line at 331.4 feet.
5. The Widest Tree in the World
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It's
not the tallest or the largest in terms of overall volume, but the tree
with the widest girth in the world is the Arbol del Tule, a Montezuma
cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) located in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Measured at the standard breast height (about 4 feet, 3 inches above
ground), the massive Arbol del Tule is an astounding 38.1 feet in
diameter. A few of California's redwood and sequoia trees come close,
but none can match Arbol del Tule.
6. A Very Sacred Tree
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Trees
have been important religious symbols since the dawn of time --
consider the mythical Tree of Life, the biblical Tree of Knowledge and
Yggdrasil from Norse mythology. In Buddhism, it was beneath a spreading fig tree (aptly named Ficus religiosa)
that the Buddha achieved supreme enlightenment, or Bodhi. A living tree
in India, planted in 288 B.C., is called the Bodhi tree because it is
believed to have been propagated from the Buddha's original fig tree;
the Bodhi tree and the nearby Mahabodhi Temple are now important
Buddhist pilgrimage sites.
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