Trees that witnessed the rise and fall of empires throughout history

According to a recent documentary i saw, where they mentioned one of the oldest living trees on the planet.
As it have fascinate me, like all things do in nature, i researched i bit more into this topic.
I found that there are plenty of 'old' trees still living, some of them fairly young. I couldn't put all of them in here.
So I made a selection from all around the world and added some information.
This is an informative thread, just to put your mind off the daily news and enjoy once again the beauty nature on out small planet.
Enjoy


Kongeegen
1,500 to 2,000 years old
This gnarled, ancient oak tree is set away in the Jægerspris North Forest in Denmark. Scientists estimate the “King Oak” is between 1,500 to 2,000 years old, making it a contender for the title of oldest individual tree in Northern Europe. Though it germinated in an open meadow, the trees growing around it are slowly closing in on the old oak and killing it.


Te Matua Ngahere
2,000 years old
First discovered by Nicholas Yakas in 1928 when he and his workers were building the State Highway 12 through the forest area.
This majestic Kauri tree is nestled in the last stretch of a primeval rainforest in Waipoua Forest, New Zealand. The tree is thought to be around 2,000 years old. With a 52.5-foot girth, Te Matua Ngahere is the fattest tree in New Zealand. The giant, whose name means “Father of the Forest” in Maori, was severely damaged in a storm in 2007.


General Sherman
2,300 to 2,700 years old
This towering giant sequoia stretches 275 feet, about as tall as a 27-story high-rise building, and is 102.6 feet around. That makes it the largest (by volume) individual tree in the world. The general lives in the Sequoia National Park in California. Scientists believe this tree could be anywhere from 2,300 years old to 2,700 years old


Patriarca de Floresta
at least 3000 years old
Probably the oldest non-conifer in Brazil. Its name translates as 'Patriarch of the Forest'.
One of the biggest trees in the Atlantic Forest, this one is thought to be at least 3000 years old


Alyshun
3,000 years old
It is a genuine shame that the 'Alishan Sacred Tree' of Taiwan, believed to have been 3,000 years old, collapsed on July 1, 1997 following heavy rainstorms. These are slow-growing but long-lived and ultimately very large conifers 55–60mtrs in height, with a trunk up to 7m in diameter. This particular one was very special to the local Buddhists


Alerce
3,600 years old
Another tree which is known to have been around for 35 million years. This majestic evergreen tree was discovered in 1993 in a grove in the Andes Mountains of south-central Chile. Using tree rings, scientists showed the giant is 3,620 years old. Though these Patagonian cypresses can reach 150 feet tall, they gain only a millimeter in girth each year, and can take a thousand years to be full-grown. The Zoroastrian Sarv and the Llangernyw yew are thought to be older, but the Alerce is the second oldest tree to have its exact age calculated


Llangernyw Yew
3,000 to 4,000 years old(other sources claim up to 5000 years old)
This common yew in Llangernyw, Wales, sprouted during Britain’s Bronze Age, and is between 3,000 and 4,000 years old. Yew trees can live so long because new shoots from the trunk fuse with it. When the main trunk dies, these offshoots keep going. Branches can also take root in the rotting trunk, or reach down into the soil near the base
The Legend of the Angelystor

According to local tradition the church yard of Llangernyw is inhabited by an ancient and malign spirit known as the "Recording Angel" or Angelystor[4] that has the power to curse. Every year at Halloween a booming voice could be heard foretelling the names of parishioners who were to die the following year. According to tradition a local man, Siôn Ap Rhobert, doubting the truth of the legend challenged the existence of the spirit one Halloween night only to hear his own name called out. He died within the year

Methuselah
4843–4844 years old
The ancient tree is named after Methuselah, a Biblical figure having the longest mentioned lifespan in the Bible of 969 years.
Its age of 4843–4844 years makes it the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism.
"Methuselah" was 4,789 years old when sampled (likely in 1957) by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan, with an estimated germination date of 2832 BC.
Note: This is not a picture of the real Methuselah. To protect the tree from vandalism, the forest service keeps its exact location secret.
The tree is hidden among other millennia-old Great Basin bristlecone pines in a grove called the Forest of Ancients


Old Tjikko
9,550 years old
This ancient, 16-foot tall Norway spruce lives in the scrubby Fulufjället Mountains in Sweden. At 9,550 years, Old Tjikko is the oldest single-stemmed clonal tree, and took root not long after the glaciers receded from Scandinavia after the last ice age.
To figure out the hardy spruce’s age, scientists carbon-dated its roots. For thousands of years, the forbidding tundra-climate kept Old Tjikko in shrub form.
But as weather warmed over the last century, the shrub has grown into a full-fledged tree. The spruce’s discoverer, geologist Leif Kullman, named the tree after his dead dog.


Pando tree
80,000 years old
The Trembling Giant, is a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen tree. The quaking aspen gained its name because of the way the tree’s leaves tremble in even the slightest breeze.
In Latin Pando stands for “I spread”. Pando is a part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers and one massive underground root system, which is claimed to be among the oldest known living organisms in existence at 80,000 years of age. Pando was discovered in 1992 and is estimated to be 6,000 tonnes which would also make it the heaviest known living organism


Off course there are many more old ones and very cool looking trees.
Like for example.

The Baobab

also known as "the Tree of Life".

This tree remains leafless for nine months of the year.
It is able to hold up to 300 litres of water.
The trees are pollinated by bats and have a fruit as unique as the tree itself

Banyan Tree

The tree grows to an immense size. It has an ability to spread to a great area. Its aerial roots run from branches to the ground. This enables trees to become very large - up to 200 metres in diameter Just fancy, a single tree can cover many acres with the strength of a forest. In Hindu mythology, the banyan tree represents eternal life because of its expanding branches

The Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse

The Chapel-Oak is the biggest, oldest, and the most famous tree of France. The tree is a religious monument and an object of pilgrimage. There are two small chapels built in it

With that being said, there is just one more thing i like to add to this:
If only trees could talk...
...

Imagine having been alive for centuries, since before the time the ancient Babylonians started to measure time as we understand it today.
Not only having been alive then, but carrying on through the developments of the Greek and Roman empires, the births of religions like Christianity and Islam, and right up to the present day, still bearing witness.


en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(tree)
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.wired.com...

reply to post by intergalactic fire


Bravo!!!!!

I could only add that I have seen one of the Baobabs in Africa and a magic tree by personal definition indeed (locals like to chew the bark of the Baobab), I have also been priveldged to see the Sequoias and all their majestic behaviors as well.

Check out the Indonesian and Brazilian jungles for some other works of art my friend, you'll be amazed. Also, Madagascar has some amazingly ancient trees.

Hey...this is a secret so don't tell anyone....the Trees do talk.

Awesome thread

ETA
Glad to give you your 777th star...congrats!

reply to post by intergalactic fire

Imagine having been alive for centuries, since before the time the ancient Babylonians started to measure time as we understand it today. Not only having been alive then, but carrying on through the developments of the Greek and Roman empires, the births of religions like Christianity and Islam, and right up to the present day, still bearing witness.

Imagine -- Oh how I wish they could talk!

Great thread - thanks for the very interesting info and pics.

amazing!, thank you for this thread, these trees are amazing!

S&F for you! Thanks so much for this!

These trees are beautiful and we often forget to look at what is around us and appreciate it. You took the time to do that and I thank you again for it. If these trees could only talk...

Edited to add, that it appears I stole the trees talking part from another poster above. Sorry. That's what I get for not reading the entire thread...

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


That's why i added the ... at the end.
Hoping you guys would fill on that with some ideas

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

locals like to chew the bark of the Baobab

Hope they dont eat the whole tree
Thanks for that extra information, it must be some experience to stand next to that big fella.

ETA: IMO we don't speak tree-ish yet, To be able to learn you first have to listen.

reply to post by intergalactic fire


I believe that in the case of the Sequoias, it seems as if they have created their own atmosphere, if that makes any sense. The atmosphere is rich in oxygen and CO2, which in turn creates a mineral rich eco system. There is always a mist in the forest, provides them with every thing they need. If you ever get a chance to or if you already have, please watch the BBC's and National Geographics documentaries on planet Earth. The roots of these trees go soooooooo far down into the Earth. The film makers even went underground somewhere ( I don't remember exactly where they were) and filmed the roots of these trees hundreds of feet below the Earths surface.

Without trees....we would all fail to exist. They and the oceans are the sole reason for our atmosphere IMO.

Thanks, I love these types of threads. So interesting with pics. Makes me want to stop and ask a tree some questions. Star&Flag

reply to post by intergalactic fire

IMO we don't speak tree-ish yet, To be able to learn you first have to listen.

....If only we would...

Originally posted by intergalactic fire
reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

 

locals like to chew the bark of the Baobab

Hope they dont eat the whole tree

Thanks for that extra information, it must be some experience to stand next to that big fella.

ETA: IMO we don't speak tree-ish yet, To be able to learn you first have to listen.

edit on 24-5-2012 by intergalactic fire because: (no reason given)

I'm sure they wouldn't eat the "whole" tree, but as you stated, it is the tree of life to the natives
Of course if we listen we will hear them, hence we will learn...they do talk

You did an extraordinary job putting this together and I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting this on ATS. The trees thank you as well

reply to post by intergalactic fire


S@F but I'm dissapointed that you didn't mention any of the Australian trees, what did you think we were just a desert?
This Huon Pine in Tasmania is over 10,500 years old.
www.theaustralian.com.au...

Also you stated that the 80,000 year old tree in your OP is the oldest living thing on Earth. I don't think that is true I believe the Great Barrier Reef is the oldest living organism on the planet and it is over half a million years old!!!

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1


OP should change his screen name to The Lorax...

so beautiful....i wish a psychopath wasn't in charge destroying all we are while giving it back.....but that is the way of where we are now....

reply to post by CrimsonKapital


My apologies for not adding that Australian tree, but i'm glad you did. Thanks for that.

I didn't state the Pando tree was the oldest living thing on earth, but it's among the oldest known living organisms.


List of long-living organisms

Pando is a Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) tree or clonal colony that has been estimated at 80,000 years old,[10] although some claims place it as being as old as one million years.[11] Unlike many other clonal "colonies" the above ground trunks remain connected to each other via a single massive underground root system. Whether it is to be considered a single tree is disputed, as it depends on one's definition of an individual tree

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


?? i'm not familiar with that.

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1


I agree, you're totally right.

About that docu series, i have it somewhere in the house but it's been several years and don't recall that topic.
It's about time i dust them off and play them again, thanks for reminding me

The pleasure is all mine and sharing is the least we can do.

reply to post by intergalactic fire


Oh! Sorry about that! Sometimes I forget that not everyone may have heard of something! Thanks for not being automatically offended!

The Lorax was a book written by Dr. Suess...Try this link:

en.wikipedia.org...

Long story short, A guy starts cutting down all the trees where The Lorax lives. One of his favorite sayings is "I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees". It's actually one of my favorite children's stories that teaches some very good lessons!

They recently remade a movie of it: www.theloraxmovie.com...

You can watch the trailer in the last link, however...the first movie/book is still better IMO. You can find the whole short "older" movie on Youtube.

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


I see now