List of oldest trees facts for kids

Pando, a huge group of quaking aspen trees, is one of the oldest living things on Earth. It might be up to 14,000 years old! You can find it in Utah, United States.

Have you ever wondered how old the oldest trees in the world are? It's a tricky question because "tree" can mean different things. Sometimes it's a single tree trunk, and sometimes it's a whole group of trees that are actually connected underground! Scientists figure out tree ages in different ways. They might count tree rings, use special dating methods, or even guess based on how big a tree is.

Because of these different ways of counting, we have a few lists of the oldest trees. Some trees have their age directly checked, like by counting their growth rings. Other trees are so old that their middle parts have rotted away, so scientists have to estimate their age. And then there are "clonal colonies," which are groups of trees that are all genetically the same, like one giant organism!

The current record holders for single, individual trees are the amazing Great Basin bristlecone pine trees. You can find them in California and Nevada, USA. These incredible trees are almost 5,000 years old!

A clonal colony can live much, much longer than a single tree. Imagine a forest of 48,000 quaking aspen trees, all connected! This huge colony, nicknamed Pando, covers about 106 acres in Utah's Fishlake National Forest. It's considered one of the oldest and largest living things on Earth. Scientists think Pando could be up to 14,000 years old! Even though the individual tree stems only live for about 130 years, the entire root system keeps growing new ones.

Another amazing clonal colony is a group of Huon pine trees in Tasmania, Australia. This group is thought to be around 10,000 years old. Scientists figured this out by studying DNA from pollen found in a nearby lake. While individual trees in this group are about 4,000 years old, the whole colony has been around for much longer.

Trees with Verified Ages

This list includes trees whose ages have been directly checked. This means scientists either counted their tree rings or used a method called radiocarbon dating. Many of these trees might be even older, but their oldest wood has rotted away.

Trees with Estimated Ages

The ages of the trees in this list are guesses or estimates. Scientists use clues like the tree's size and how fast it grows to figure out its age.

Clonal Trees: A Unique Life Cycle

A clonal colony is like a super-organism where many tree trunks are actually part of one giant, very old plant. Even if individual trunks don't live very long, the whole colony can survive for thousands of years by growing new shoots from its root system. These new shoots are genetically identical to the original plant.

See also

• King Clone
• List of largest giant sequoias
• List of longest-living organisms
• List of old-growth forests
• List of individual trees
• List of superlative trees
• Oldest viable seed
• Veteran tree