Methuselah : The Tree of a million Dawns

#oldestlivingorganism #oldesttree #methuselah

How long do you imagine yourself to be on this earth?

70 years, 80, 90, maybe 100 years…

Have you ever wondered for how long a tree can live?

Depending on the species, the number can stand anywhere from a few decades to a few centuries!

A tree called Methuselah is claimed to be the longest living organism (non-colonial) on Earth.  Methuselah is a human character that appears in bible as the longest living man, age: 969; the name Methuselah means the ‘one whose death will bring judgement’. Methuselah was also the grandfather of Noah and son of Enoch, who named Methuselah.

But let us not deviate from our Methuselah tree. The tree belongs to the Great Basin Bristlecone pine species, which some nerd people call Pinus longaeva. The species is commonly found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada and Utah. The harsh climate and unfavourable conditions test each and every life that dares to step in that region. Still, Methuselah stands there for more than 4500 years!

Although the exact location is not revealed to public domain, the tree is said to be standing in the ancient Bristlecone forest, also called the ‘Methuselah grove’, around 3000m above sea level, that fall under the Inyo forest, East California.

Methuselah was first sampled by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan back in 1957, and did not inherited the title of the oldest living organism until 1964, when the contemporaneous oldest tree, ‘The Prometheus’ died.

Exact age of the tree is said to be 4851 years (as of 2019) and the claims of seeding goes back to 2833 BC. Methuselah witnessed many civilizations, from their dawn to their dusk, and the rings of this tree records the data of climate and weather conditions of over 40 centuries!!

Team Knowledge Villa Hopes you learned something new and interesting…