The oldest tree growing on our planet

In 1997, Julia Hill set a record for staying on the tree. Thus, she wanted to draw public attention to the problem of forest conservation. How much she achieved the goal - is unknown, but she managed to save the red giant tree from logging. It is worth knowing that plants do not suffer from age-related diseases, unlike humans. In time, one part may die, the other may grow over the centuries.

Probably, each of us in childhood was told that some types of plants can live hundreds of years. However, not even all adults know that the oldest tree has an age of almost 10,000 years. In Sweden, on Mount Fulu grows a fir Old Tjikko, whose age was calculated by scientists. When they first started talking about it, the age of the tree was "only" a few thousand years. Of course, its trunk is periodically updated, but the roots of the plant originated 100 centuries ago.

The question that scientists could not answer for a long time about how the oldest tree in the world could survive all climatic changes in the world found its explanation that Old Tjikko was dying for some time, and under favorable conditions again gave an escape. This is what caused the fallacy of the first judgment of scientists about the age of spruce.

Until the forties of the twentieth century, it was a trunk that Stood out against the background of a few green. At the same time, a favorable change in weather conditions led to the fact that the tree began to grow again.

Until the exact age of the spruce was determined, the oldest tree in the world was represented by pine Methuselah. It grows in the National Reserve of California, but the exact location is kept secret from the public. However, it is known that it is growing at an altitude of more than three thousand meters above sea level. The name was given to the plant in honor of the biblical character, whose earthly path was 969 years. At present, Methuselah is considered to be the oldest unsung living organism in Planet Earth. According to scientists, his life began in 2831 BC. E.

Some researchers, as a contender for the title "the oldest tree on earth," are pushing the intermountain pine Prometheus. It grew on Mount Wheeler Peak in the USA. Presumably this plant was more than 5000 years old, but the exact age remained a mystery. It was discovered in 1958 by naturalists, who named it in honor of the mythological character of Prometheus.

In 1963 Donald Curry, a researcher, came to this area to study the flora. Here he stumbled upon the oldest tree described and gave it the name - WPN - 114. Applying the technology of that time, the scientist proved that the plant is no less than 3-4 thousand years old. In 1964, D. Curry, with the consent of the US Forest Service (USFS), cuts down the pine and divides into parts that later were sent to different laboratories. At present, parts of Prometheus can be seen in various American museums. And on the place where the oldest tree grew, now only the stump remains. For what purpose the scientist had to destroy the plant entirely - it is not known.