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Fri 5 Feb, 2010 07:57 pm
The world's oldest known living tree, a conifer that first took root at the end of the last Ice Age, has been discovered in Sweden, researchers say. The visible portion of the 4 metre-tall "Christmas tree" isn't ancient, but its root system has been growing for 9,550 years, according to a team led by Leif Kullman, professor at Umeå University's department of ecology and environmental science in Sweden.
Discovered in 2004, the lone Norway spruce of the species traditionally used to decorate European homes during Christmas represents the planet's longest-lived identified plant, Kullman said. The researchers found the shrubby mountain survivor at an altitude of 910 metres in Dalarna Province.
The tree's incredible longevity is largely due to its ability to clone itself, Kullman said. The spruce's stems or trunks have a lifespan of around 600 years, "but as soon as a stem dies, a new one emerges from the same root stock," Kullman explained. "So the tree has a very long life expectancy."
wow, how did IKEA miss it
@dadpad,
We need to cut 'er down and count growth rings, for confirmation.
@roger,
Not so.
The visible bit is younger...it is the root system that is so ancient!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416104320.htm
@roger,
Dont need to cut it down.
Quote:Scientists found four "generations" of spruce remains in the form of cones and wood produced.
The discovery showed trees of 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9,550 years old and everything displayed clear signs that they have the same genetic makeup as the trees above them. Since spruce trees can multiply with root penetrating braches, they can produce exact copies, or clones.
Uh...I think Roger was being ironic, folks.
@Merry Andrew,
Does it have enough girth to make a slab type coffee table top?
Roger is dry? He gave up the booze?
Good for Roger!
@Setanta,
Hmmmm, dubious till we see more data.
@dadpad,
Almost 10k years is a long time to be living in one place. Even the ground around your roots usually changes fast enough to prevent that.
Let's see, what were humans doing around 10k years ago when that tree was just a seedling... Making clovis points? Crossing the land bridge in Alaska?
@rosborne979,
rosborne979 wrote:Let's see, what were humans doing around 10k years ago when that tree was just a seedling... Making clovis points? Crossing the land bridge in Alaska?
Domesticating plants and any-mules in the middle east, in China . . . if the most recent information is correct, figs had already been domesticated for from one to two thousand years . . .
@rosborne979,
4000 B.C there were about 10 000 plus minus a few thousand living in Sweden.
They probably did not cross the land bridge to Alaska, but once crossed the land bridge between Denmark and south Sweden.
So 10 000 years BC there were very few people in Sweden. On a small island in Hornborgarsjoen people lived 9 000 years BC and the oldest dog´s grave has been found there.
@dadpad,
It may be the worlds oldest living conifer, but it has a long way to go before it becomes the worlds oldest living tree, if you count clonal trees.
There is a clonal tree in Utah, a quaking Aspen, that is estimated to be between 80,000 to 100,000 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_tree
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