Oldest living tree

Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden

 

Discovered in 2004, the lone Norway spruce—of the species traditionally used to decorate European homes during Christmas—represents the planet's longest-lived identified plant, Kullman said.
The researchers found the shrubby mountain survivor at an altitude of 2,985 feet (910 meters) in Dalarna Province.

The tree's incredible longevity is largely due to its ability to clone itself, 
The spruce's stems or trunks have a lifespan of around 600 years, "but as soon as a stem dies, a new one emerges from the same root stock,"   "So the tree has a very long life expectancy."
 
 
Bristlecone pines in the western United States are generally recognized as the world's oldest continuously standing trees.

The most ancient recorded, from  Californisa,s White Mountains, is dated to around 5,000 years ago.
Bristlecone pines are aged by counting tree rings, which form annually within their trunks.
But in the case of the Norway spruce, ancient remnants of its roots were radiocarbon dated.

The study team also identified other ancient spruces in Sweden that were between 5,000 and 6,000 years old.
Trees much older than 9,550 years would be impossible in Sweden, because ice sheets covered the country until the end of the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago 
 

The research forms part of an ongoing study into how and when trees colonized Scandinavia after it had thawed.
"Prior to our studies the general conception was that spruce migrated to this area about 2,000 years ago, so now you will have to rewrite the textbooks," 

"Deglaciation seems to have occurred much earlier than generally thought,"   "Perhaps the ice sheet during the Ice Age was much thinner than previously believed."

The tree study may also help shed light on how plants will respond to current climate change.