Methuselah is a -year-old
(''Pinus longaeva'') tree growing high in the
White Mountains of
Inyo County in eastern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.
It is recognized as the non-
clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world.
The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch
Methuselah
Methuselah () ( he, מְתוּשֶׁלַח ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword";
gr, Μαθουσάλας ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and ...
, who ostensibly lived to 969 years of age, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.
Geography
Methuselah is located between above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California.
Geography
The forest is east of the Owens Valley, high on the eastern face of the White Mountains in the upper Fish Lake- ...
within the
Inyo National Forest. The
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
does not disclose its exact location.
Status as oldest known tree
Methuselah was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan,
[ with an estimated germination date of 2833 BC. Since this tree ages back to this date, using tree rings, research shows precipitation patterns that date back to 1983 BC.
Dendrochronologist Matthew Salzer of the University of Arizona has been unable to reproduce Schulman's age estimate, due to a missing core. Salzer's estimate is approximately years old.
]
Other bristlecones
Another bristlecone specimen, WPN-114, nicknamed "Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...
", was more than 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964, with an estimated germination date of 2880 BC. A dendrochronology, based on these trees and other bristlecone pine
The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus'', subsection ''Balfourianae''). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, ''Pinus ...
samples, extends back to about 9000 BC, albeit with a single gap of about 500 years.
Clonal organisms
Other, longer-lived organisms are clonal colonies, such as a quaking aspen (''Populus tremuloides'') colony named "Pando" in the Fish Lake National Forest
Fish Lake National Forest was established as the Fish Lake Forest Reserve by the General Land Office in Utah on February 10, 1899 with . After the transfer of federal forests to the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, it became a National Forest on Mar ...
in south-central Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
that has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although precise estimates of clonal organisms such as this aspen colony are impossible with current technologies, and other scientific attempts to age Pando have estimated it may be much younger; the 11,700-year-old creosote bush (''Larrea tridentata'') colony, named " King Clone", in the Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily i ...
near the Lucerne Valley in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
; and the 9,500-year-old Norway spruce (''Picea abies'') colony named "Old Tjikko
Old Tjikko is a 9,550 year-old Norway spruce, located on Fulufjället Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. Old Tjikko originally gained fame as the "world's oldest tree." Old Tjikko is, however, a clonal tree that has regenerated new tru ...
" in Sweden. Methuselah, however, is the oldest known non-clonal organism for which a reliable age has been established, although the Llangernyw Yew in Wales (4,000 – 5,000 years old) and especially the Fortingall Yew in Scotland (3,000 – 9,000 years old) have some age estimates exceeding that of Methuselah.
See also
* List of individual trees
* List of oldest trees
References
{{reflist, 33em
Individual pine trees
Individual trees in California
Inyo National Forest
White Mountains (California)
Natural history of Inyo County, California
History of California
Landmarks in California
Pinus longaeva, Methuselah
Oldest trees