Long-lived trees - names and ages, descriptions, photos and videos

Admiration, delight, awe, deepest respect - such emotions can be felt while being next to tree long-lived. They are the oldest living organisms on Earth; the age of individual representatives has crossed the thousand-year mark. Trees are long-lived, names and ages, pictures, facts - more on this later in the article.

Content:

1. About trees
2. Lifespan
3. Long-lived oak tree - name and age
4. The oldest trees on Earth
5. Oldest clonal groves
6. Fruit long-lived

About trees

A tree is a plant that has a woody trunk that lasts throughout its life. Scientists suggest that they evolved from seaweeds that came to the coastal zone.

They took root to gain a foothold on the surface. The environment was aggressive, and living organisms sought to protect themselves by forming a durable surface layer. Wood became such a layer, and it also maintained their constant shape.

Later, trees became the impetus for the development of many other forms of life. They changed the Earth's atmosphere, the composition of the soil, and influenced the climate. The modern world has become what it is today, largely thanks to these plants.

Currently, their number on Earth exceeds 3 trillion specimens, they are divided into 60 thousand species. They grow on any soil, even on rocky slopes, in the desert, on permafrost, but they are not found in Antarctica.

Mangroves forests They grow in the tidal zone, in salt water, and about 40% of the time they are submerged.

Mesquite grows in the Bahrain desert tree, around which there are no other large plants for many miles, it is only thanks to its strong root system that it is able to live in such harsh conditions.

Every year 50 thousand tourists visit this place. Local residents call it the Tree of Life and say that this very place used to be the Garden of Eden.

In New Zealand, at the southernmost point on Slope Point, the strongest cold Antarctic winds blow all the time. A small group of coniferous trees grows in these places; due to constant winds, they are always inclined to the north. They adapted to grow not upward, but sideways, so that at least part of the branches were protected from the drying, piercing wind.

The diversity of these flora representatives is amazing: the smallest is the dwarf willow - about 6 cm, and the tallest is the sequoia. Today, the tallest sequoia grows in the state of California, its height is 115.61 meters.

The fastest growing one is paulownia; it can grow 4 meters in a year! But White Cedar has grown only 10 cm in 155 years. Dione edible also grows very slowly - only 0.76 mm per year.

Lifespan

Lifespan depends on many factors, but maximum lifespan varies by species. The most short-lived ones are fruit ones, quince lives on average 50-70 years, alder the gray lives on average 40-70 years, rarely living to the age of 100 years. Most birch trees live 100-110 years, but some specimens can live up to 300 years. Long-livers are conifers, oaks, chestnut, cypress and many more representatives.

Trees have the hardest time in the subarctic zone - cold summers, harsh winters, swamps, permafrost. They grow short and do not have longevity. In the temperate zone there is already a greater diversity of vegetation due to the warmer climate.

Some representatives of the temperate zone that are distinguished by longevity:

• Oak, maple, beech - the average lifespan of these plants is 300-500 years
• Spruce – 300-350 years
• Pine – up to 600 years
• Larch – 500-900 years

Some representatives of the oak genus do not shed their leaves seasonally, but change them gradually, while remaining evergreen. Some species are distinguished by longevity; some individuals are considered a tourist attraction and are protected.

In warmer climatic zones there are also long-lived plants, for example, cypress. These evergreens can live for more than a thousand years, the most famous of them is the Zoroastrian Sarv, which has lived for more than 4,000 years.

Long-lived oak tree - name and age

An oak is a mighty giant, tightly connected to the earth; next to this living creature one can feel its strength and energy. Many legends are associated with them; they are deeply revered where they grow.

Here are a few of the most famous.

Mamvrian oak, also known as the Oak of Abraham, is considered sacred; the Bible says that it was near this oak tree that Abraham had a revelation about the Holy Trinity. According to legend, as long as this oak tree is alive, the end of the world will not come. Its age is estimated at 5,000 years, but in 1997 it dried up, and tourists helped it with this, taking away its pieces as talismans. Fortunately, a year later a new shoot appeared from the roots.

According to scientists, the colony of Palmer scrub oaks in the Jurupa Valley (USA, California) began its existence 13 thousand years ago. Some researchers claim that a colony of these oak trees survived the last ice age.

Stelmuzh oak is one of the oldest European oak trees, age according to various sources ranges from one thousand to two thousand years. In 1916, he underwent a recovery operation: they cleaned out the rot from inside, trimmed the hollow, and surrounded it with a fence.

Oak chapel in France. Two chapels were built inside the oak tree in 1669, which are still open to the public today. The age of this oak is estimated at 1200 years.
For clarity, you can see photos of long-lived trees, the names and ages of which were listed.

The oldest trees on Earth

These plants are the longest living creatures on our planet. Some of those living today rushed towards the sun back in the days when there were no Egyptian pyramids. The oldest living tree today is pine spinous, whose name is Mufasael. It grows in eastern California in a national park, but its specific location is hidden from outsiders, only park employees know where it grows.

According to scientists, the approximate time when the seed of this pine began its truly long life journey is considered to be 2831 BC (in 2017 the pine turned 4847 years old!). There are many pine trees in the park that are over a thousand years old; it is surprising that the conditions there are not the most pleasant: very little rainfall, poor soil, dry air.

These pine trees- long-livers have adapted to difficulties; the needles of these amazing creatures alone have not changed for 20-30 years. This significantly saves inventory and energy.Constant photosynthesis ensures normal existence in such a harsh climate.

When individual areas are damaged, they die, but the disease does not spread further; the untouched part continues to live its life. Pine wood is very dense, with a large amount of resin, because of this pathogenic microbes, fungi and insects -pests can't get close to her.

Additionally, dry air protects pine trees from rotting. Old-timers prefer open spaces where everyone has enough sun and moisture. This arrangement also prevents the spread of forest fires. Even after death pine can stand for about a hundred years until the roots begin to rot or the soil collapses.

In the same California, in Sequoia National Park, the General Sherman sequoia grows. Her age is 2700 years, in addition to such a respectable age, she is distinguished by other parameters: height 84 meters, girth at the ground - 31 meters, and she is still growing, increasing her girth by 1.5 cm every year. Next to such a giant, you understand who really is the owner of planet Earth.

The General Sherman is open to tourists and has a sign near it stating that this redwood tree can be used to build 40 houses and that it is much longer than a passenger train.

Baobab trees grow in Africa; they do not have growth rings, so it is difficult to determine their age. Using radiocarbon dating, scientists claim that individual representatives have lived for more than 4,500 years.

The legend associated with these plants says that the baobab did not like the place that God had chosen for it, and he got angry and planted it upside down, after which the baobab began to grow and no longer asked for a new place.

Dragon trees also do not form growth rings; age is determined approximately by growth rates. Typically these plants are 20 meters tall, with a base diameter of 4 meters and can live for 5-7 thousand years.

Oldest clonal groves

A clonal colony is a group of genetically identical organisms that have evolved from a common ancestor, or we can say that it is one organism that has split into many parts during the process of growth. Clonal trees are long-lived - names and ages.

One such organism is Pando Grove, in Utah, USA. Aspen-shaped poplar in this grove it grows and dies, this cycle takes about 130 years, a new shoot appears in its place and this process has not stopped for at least 80 thousand years.

At the time of the birth of Pando, states did not yet exist; people had just begun to settle across the continents. Entire civilizations were born and died, religions were born, then they faded away, man made a huge number of inventions and discoveries, comprehended the world around him, studied and is studying the universe, and Pando continuously lives and develops with all three of these.

In Sweden, from roots that are more than 9,500 years old, according to radiocarbon dating, it grows spruce Tikko, she is a clone of an old dead plant. The young growth is several hundred years old, but its roots date back to times that are even difficult to imagine.

Fruit long-lived

Among the longest-living fruits, olives and chestnuts are considered the oldest. One of the famous representatives of chestnuts - Chestnut hundreds of horses.It is a landmark of Sicily, scientists consider it the oldest, in addition, it is included in the Guinness Book of Records, due to the largest girth of the trunk, in 1780 this figure was 58 meters, now the trunk is divided into three parts.

One of the oldest olives in Spain is known as Farga de Arion, it is approximately 1701, and older specimens are also known: Olive Vouves. This specimen grows on the island of Crete, the exact age is difficult to establish because the core has rotted, but this figure is at least 2000 years old.

Although most of the centenarians are protected, the number of forests is decreasing every year due to human activity. Forests have suffered especially greatly from humans over the past 200 years. In developed countries, deforestation is strictly controlled or banned altogether.

A forest is a unique ecosystem; if there is no forest, there will be no life. Love and take care of nature, it gave us life.

Which are the oldest trees on Earth, where they grow, how long trees usually live, how some manage to live for more than a thousand years, about everything in more detail - in the video: