Some of the longest-living trees in the world live in the White Mountains of California
Perhaps it is a little known fact, but the trees are among living beings that have inhabited the Earth for the longest time. It is a series of organisms that have cohabited with civilizations as old as the Egyptian. Giving this information, it is easy to imagine the history that they keep in their entrails and the great cultural legacy that they harbor : they are authentic living monuments.
It is for this reason that at Traveler we want to encourage you to make this wonderful journey across three continents and through five of them. Will you join this historical tour?
5. MILLENARY LARCH
Our first stop is in Chile to meet the fifth oldest tree in the world. In this South American country is the Millennial Alerce, also known as great grandfather.
Its more or less 3,500 years have allowed it to grow to 50 meters high and 11 meters in perimeter. An immensity that makes it difficult for visitors who come to meet him to be framed in the photo with him. Even so, we encourage the curious to pay homage to this tree that is in the Alerce Costero National Park , and which is the oldest in South America.
The Millennial Larch, also called Great Grandfather
Four. YEW LLANGERNYW
From the American continent we flew directly to Europe, to a small town called llangernyw , located in Welsh . Here is our fourth treasure: an impressive yew tree that dates back some 4,000 years. It is so, so old that it had to be planted in the Prehistoric Bronze Age . It has a height of more than 13 meters and a circumference of almost 11.
In addition to its age, it is known because a cursed legend circulates around it: it is located next to a church where tradition has it that lives an ancient spirit known as Angelystor, that, each Halloween holiday, he predicts through a voice the names of the parishioners who will die the following year. Given its importance in the United Kingdom, in 2002 it was included as one of the 50 most important English trees for the Tree Council (The Council of the Tree) .
Legend surrounds the Llangernyw yew
3. SARV-E ABARKUH
We changed continent again and landed in Iran , more specifically, in the province of Yartz. Here lives Sarv-e Abarkuh, a cypress with an age that oscillates between 4,000 and 5,000 years. Given his longevity, he holds the position of oldest living organism in Asia. The main reason for this durability over time is the natural conditions that surround it, very favorable for the cypress, and its adaptation to changes in the environment over the millennia it has lived.
As it could not be otherwise, it is a national monument in the Asian country and a great tourist attraction, in addition to its age, its size: it reaches a height of 25 meters and a perimeter of 11.5 in its trunk. All this transcendence that surrounds it has created several local legends around it, such as the fact that this thousand-year-old cypress was planted by Japheth, the son of the prophet Noah.
Sarv-e Abarkuh, attraction of Asia
two. METHUSELAH
And from Asia we return to the continent from where we started, but this time to the north, to the United States. In the state of California, more specifically in the white mountains , has lived for about 4,850 years Methuselah. His name is easy to guess; It receives it for the homonymous biblical character who, it is said, lived a total of 969 years. It is a Pinus Longaeva, a species of pine with very special characteristics, since it lives in places above 3,000 meters of altitude and in arid lands.
Its trunk is very strong, and has a thick layer of resin that protects it. But, apart from these peculiarities, it is also very striking for its appearance : his figure twists on itself, as if it were entangled, giving it a unique and very striking appearance. These characteristics are what allow it to be such a long-lived tree.
But not everything was going to be good news: the curious who want to see it in person have it more difficult, since only its investigators know its location, for fear of acts of vandalism against him.
Pinus Longaeva Forest in the White Mountains
1. OLDEST TREE IN THE WORLD
Very close to Methuselah, also in the white mountains , is the oldest tree in the world recognized to date, with a total of 5,068 years . Yes, you read that right: 5,068 years. He was identified in 2016 and, like his "younger brother", is a Pinus Longaeva and its location is also reserved solely for its investigators. Although neither images have reached us.
This strong prevention has its origin in the 50s, when what was at that time the longest-lived tree in the world was felled for a study: Prometheus . It was a specimen with about 5,000 years of age, and its cut was an important factor in protecting these pines.
Scientists jealously guard the location of the world's oldest tree
Bonus track: THE OLDEST TREE IN SPAIN
Within our borders there is also a great legacy of ancient trees in different autonomous communities such as Andalusia, Castilla y León, Asturias.... The oldest is a 2,000-year-old yew tree found in Jaén , in the fantastic Sierra de Cazorla.
Although its age is a bit far from those previously mentioned, we find ourselves before a tree that makes an impact due to its large dimensions; so much so that doubles in size to many of his peers from the yew community where he is located.
Getting to it is a unique and simple experience: we will have to reach a route known as the Path of the Millenary Yews and, after walking for about 30 minutes along an easy route, we will arrive at the community of yew trees -some of them ancient- up to 20 meters high. Here, if we look closely, we will discover one that prevails over the rest; without a doubt it is our oldest tree.
This is how the ancient yew tree of Jaén looks like