- Pinus longaeva
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Pinus longaeva 
Big bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), showing both live and dead sections, and streaked grain colors on broad trunk. Along Methuselah Trail, Schulman Grove of bristlecones, White Mountains, California. Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Pinus Subgenus: Ducampopinus Species: P. longaeva Binomial name Pinus longaeva
D.K.Bailey
Pinus longaeva, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine,[1] is a long-living species of tree found in the higher mountains of the southwest United States. The species is one of three closely related trees known as bristlecone pines and is sometimes known as the Intermountain or Western bristlecone pine.[2] One member of this species, known as Methuselah, is thought to be the oldest living non-clonal organism on Earth.
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Physical characteristics
It is a medium-size tree, reaching 5 to 15 m (16 to 49 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2.5 to 3.6 m (8 ft 2 in to 11 ft 10 in). The bark is bright orange-yellow, thin and scaly at the base of the trunk. The leaves ('needles') are in fascicles of five, stout, 2.5 to 4 cm (0.98 to 1.6 in) long, deep green to blue-green on the outer face, with stomata confined to a bright white band on the inner surfaces. The leaves show the longest persistence of any plant, with some remaining green for 45 years (Ewers & Schmid 1981).
New growth, with 5-needle clusters, in Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The cones are ovoid-cylindrical, 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) long and 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) broad when closed, green or purple at first, ripening orange-buff when 16 months old, with numerous thin, fragile scales, each scale with a bristle-like spine 2 to 5 mm (0.079 to 0.20 in) long. The cones open to 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in) broad when mature, releasing the seeds immediately after opening. The seeds are 5 mm (0.20 in) long, with a 12 to 22 mm (0.47 to 0.87 in) wing; they are mostly dispersed by the wind, but some are also dispersed by Clark's Nutcrackers, which pluck the seeds out of the opening cones. The nutcrackers use the seeds as a food resource, storing many for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new plants. However, in many stands current reproduction is not adequate to replace old and dying trees and thus sustain its population.[3] The species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.[3] Bristlecone pines are protected in a number of national parks such as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada,[4][5] where cutting or gathering wood is prohibited.[4] An introduced fungal disease known as white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) is believed to affect some individuals.
It differs from Pinus aristata in that the needles always have two resin canals, and these are not interrupted and broken, so it lacks the characteristic small white resin flecks appearing on the needles in that species. From the Foxtail Pine, it differs in the cone bristles being over 2 mm (0.079 in) long, and the cones having a more rounded (not conic) base. The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface.[5] These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes,[6] and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures.[7] As the tree ages, much of its vascular cambium layer may die. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches.
Distribution
Bristlecone Pine, White Mountains, CaliforniaThe species occurs in Utah, Nevada and eastern California. In California, it is restricted to the White Mountains, the Inyo Mountains, and the Panamint Range, in Mono and Inyo counties. In Nevada, it is found in most of the higher ranges of the Basin and Range from the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas north to the Ruby Mountains, and in Utah, northeast to South Tent in the Wasatch Range.
Age
A specimen of this species nicknamed "Methuselah" located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains near Bishop, California is 4,842 years old (as of 2011), as measured by annual ring count on a small core taken with an increment borer. Its exact location is kept secret, since an older specimen, nicknamed "Prometheus", was cut down in 1964.[8] It is the oldest known tree in North America, and the oldest known individual tree in the world, although a clonal individual, nicknamed "Old Tjikko", a Norway Spruce in Sweden is 9,550 years old.[9][10]
Among the White Mountain specimens, the oldest trees are found on north-facing slopes, with an average of 2,000 years, as compared to the 1,000 year average on the southern slopes.[11] The climate and the durability of their wood can preserve them long after death, with dead trees as old as 7,000 years persisting next to live ones.[11]
Notes
- ^ Moore, Gerry; Kershner, Bruce; Craig Tufts; Daniel Mathews; Gil Nelson; Spellenberg, Richard; Thieret, John W.; Terry Purinton; Block, Andrew (2008). National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America. New York: Sterling. p. 82. ISBN 1-4027-3875-7.
- ^ Howard, JL (2004). "Pinus longaeva". Fire Effects Information System. USDA. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinlon/all.html#TAXONOMY. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ a b "IUCN Red List". IUCN. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Global Trees Campaign". 2008-03. http://www.globaltrees.org. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ a b "The Ancient Bristlecone Pine". 2003-08. http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/home.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ "Pinus longaeva". 2008-03. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinlon/introductory.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ "The Gymnosperm Database". 2008-03. http://www.conifers.org/. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ Afp.google.com, Age shall not wither them: the oldest trees on Earth
- ^ World’s oldest living tree discovered in Sweden (Umeå University Press Release, 16 April 2008)
- ^ Owen, James. "Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden". National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080414-oldest-tree.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b Lewington, A; Parker E (1999). Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years. London: Collins & Brown Ltd.. ISBN 1-85585-704-9 page=37.
References
This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Pinus longaeva" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.
- Ewers, F. W.; Schmid, R. (1981). "Longevity of needle fascicles of Pinus longaeva (Bristlecone Pine) and other North American pines". Oecologia 51: 107–15. doi:10.1007/BF00344660.
- Lewington, A.; Parker, E. (1999). Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years. London: Collins & Brown Ltd.. ISBN 1-85585-704-9.
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus longaeva. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU B1+2e v2.3)
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List vulnerable species
- Pinus
- Trees of California
- Trees of Nevada
- Trees of Utah
- Trees of the Great Basin desert region
- Flora of the California desert regions
- Flora of the Great Basin desert region
- Trees of the Western United States
- Trees of the Southwestern United States
- United States state plants
- Symbols of Nevada
- Vulnerable flora of the United States
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