~The Oldest Tree on the Planet~ 10.12.12

~The Oldest Tree on the Planet~

The bristlecone pines,
the oldest trees on Earth,
are a small group of pine

trees, that are thought to
reach an age far greater
than that of any other
single living organism
known, up to nearly 5,000
years.

This prehistoric tree was
already a more than a
century old when the first
pyramid was built in
Egypt.

The Oldest Tree
The bristlecone pine
(family Pinaceae, genus
Pinus, subsection
Balfourianae) has an
intrinsically low rate of
reproduction and
regeneration, and it is
thought that under
present climatic and
environmental conditions
the rate of regeneration
may be insufficient to
sustain its population.