Confessions from the Killer Mime Cult

Methuselah (estimated germination 2832 BC) is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, which was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 when the trees were originally being surveyed by Schulman and Harlan. It is the oldest living organism currently known and documented, and still alive, at the age of about 4,838 years old. It is named after Methuselah, a Biblical figure reputed to have lived 969 years. Located in the "Forest of Ancients" in the Methuselah Grove at between 2,900–3,000 m above sea level, its exact location is currently undisclosed to the public as a protection against vandalism; the coordinates cited here refer to the Methuselah Grove Visitor Center.

An older specimen, WPN-114 and nicknamed Prometheus, was approximately 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964 (estimated germination date 2880 BC), and another tree that is approximately 4,600 years old is still living. A Dendrochronology is based on these trees and other bristlecone pine samples that extends back to almost 7000 BC.

Numerous claims of older plants of other species have been made, but these are all of clonal colonies, not individual plants. Sad that this is probably the oldest living organism on Earth, and it has to be hidden so some jackass doesn't kill it.

Labels: The Methuselah Tree