The world has several old trees of different sizes and species. The age of trees is determined mainly by counting the rings in their trunks and these days carbon dating is the most popular and perfect way of counting the tree’s age. It is difficult to determine the exact age of very old trees because their center is not present. Here is the list of 10 oldest trees in the world:
1. Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi
It was planted in 288 BC, and is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date.
This sacred tree is located in Sri Lanka and it is one of the world’s oldest trees. It is believed that the sapling for this tree came from the historical Bodhi tree in India. The tree is planted on a 6.5 meter high terrace and is surrounded by railings.
2. Pando or The Trembling Giant
The root system of Pando is estimated to be among the oldest known living organisms in existence at 80,000 years old.
Pando, also known as The Trembling Giant, is Quaking Aspen’s clonal colony. Its root system is very deep and massive. Weighing around 6,600 short tons, the Panda is easily the heaviest organism on earth. This tree is located in the Fishlake National Forest at the western edge of the Colorado Plateau in Utah. “Pando” is a Latin word which means “I spread” in English.
3. Senator
The Senator is the oldest pond cypress tree in the world, located in Big Tree Park, Longwood, Florida.
The tree is 38 meters tall and the diameter of its trunk is 5.3 meters. Senator M.O. Overstreet donated the tree to Seminole County in 1927 and the tree was named Senator to honor him. In 1993, it was determined that the Senator was 3,400-3,500 years old.
4. Llangernyw Yew
This male yew tree lives in the churchyard of St. Dygain’s Church in Llangernyw village, North Wales. Although it is very hard to tell the age of Yew trees, it is believed to be aged between 4,000 and 5,000 years, making it the second or third oldest tree in the world.
The core part of this ancient tree is not present anymore and the tree now has many offshoots. At ground level, the tree’s girth is 10.75 m. This tree is a non-clonal colony. It is believed that it was planted in Bronze Age.
5. Angel Oak
The Angel Oak is thought to be one of the oldest living organisms east of the Mississippi River.
Located in South Carolina’s Angel Oak Park, the Angel Oak is believed to be around 1,500 years old. The height of this tree is 20 meters and its girth is of 8.5 meters. The crown of this tree shades around 17,000 square feet. The length of the longest limb of this tree is 32 meters.
6. Hundred Horse Chestnut
The tree’s name originated from a legend in which a queen of Aragon and her company of one hundred knights, during a trip to Mount Etna, were caught in a severe thunderstorm.
Located on Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, the Hundred Horse Chestnut is world’s oldest chestnut tree. This tree is just 8 km away from the crater of a volcano. Botanist Bruno Peyronel has estimated that this tree is around 4,000 years old. In 1780, the girth of this tree was 57.9 meters.
7. Jomon Sugi
It is the oldest and largest of nearly 2,000-year-old-growth cryptomeria trees in Japan, and is estimated to be between 2,170 and 7,200 years old.
Jōmon Sugi, one of the world’s oldest trees, is located on a UNESCO World Heritage Site Yakushima in Japan. The Jōmon Sugi is 25.3 meters high and its volume is around 300 m3. It was discovered in 1968.
8. Arbol del Tule
The age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years, and even one claim of 6,000 years.
El Árbol del Tule, a Montezuma Cypress, has world’s stoutest trunk. UNESCO placed this tree on its tentative list of World Heritage Sites in 2001. The circumference of the trunk of this tree was measured in 2005 and at that time it was 36.2 meters. The tree is also known as the “Tree of Life.”
9. Cariniana legalis
Cariniana legalis is found in south-eastern parts of Brazil. This tree is one of the oldest and the biggest trees in the Atlantic Forest. The Cariniana legalis is facing danger of extinction due to habitat loss.
10. Olive tree of Vouves
Olive tree of Vouves is known to be the oldest olive tree in the world and still produces olives today.
Found in Greece, this tree is believed to be around 2,000 years old but it still produces olives. The University of Crete’s scientists believe that this tree is 4,000 years old. The perimeter of the trunk of this tree 12.5 m and its diameter is 4.6 m.
