Location
Methuselah Tree - The oldest tree
Location
It is amazing to think that there are still trees that existed way before the pyramids were built. The Methuselah tree is a 4850year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains, California. Until 2013 it was the world's oldest known non-clonal tree. However in 2013 an even older bristlecone pine was found in the same area with an age of 5069 years (in 2015).
The secret of the trees living for so long time is not so much in the environment, rather than the tree itself. The bristlecone pine has evolved survival strategies that help it cope with one of roughest environments on the planet for thousands of years.
Hyperion- The tallest tree
Location
Hyperion is the world's tallest known living tree. It was discovered in 2006, by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor and was measured at 379.3 feet (115.61 m).
The exact location of the tree has not been revealed to the public for fear that human traffic would upset the ecosystem the tree inhabits. The tree is estimated to contain 18,600 cubic feet (530 m3) of wood and to be roughly 700–800 years old.
General Sherman- The largest tree
Location
The General Sherman is the largest tree in the world. It is not the tallest, oldest or widest but it is the largest tree by volume. General Sherman is both tall and large in diameter and, in particular, holds a large diameter high up the trunk. This is what results in biggest wood volume in the world.
Despite not breaking the record in other features, it is still among the tallest, widest and longest-lived of all trees on the planet. The tree is 2,300–2,700 years old with a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft) and an estimated bole volume of 1,487 cubic metres.
El Árbol del Tule - The stoutest tree
Location
El Árbol del Tule is a cypress tree that has the stoutest trunk of any tree in the world. In 2005, its trunk had a circumference of 42.0 m (137.8 ft), equating to a diameter of 14.05 m (46.1 ft).
It is so large that it was originally thought to be multiple trees, but DNA tests have proven that it is only one tree. The age of the tree is unknown, but the best scientific estimate based on growth rates is between 1,433 and 1,600 years. In 2001 it was placed on a UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Sites.
Old Tjikko- The oldest clonal tree
Location
Old Tjikko is the world's oldest individual clonal tree. The age of this Norway Spruce tree is an unbelievable 9,550 years and it is located on Fulufjället Mountain in Sweden.
The trunk itself is estimated to be only a few hundred years old, but the tree as a whole has survived almost ten thousand years due to a process known as layering. When branches touch ground, they can sprout new roots and if the original trunk dies, the root system is still alive and may sprout a new trunk.
The age of the tree has been determined by carbon dating of the root system under the tree.
