Bristlecone pine

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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Bristlecone pines | image = Prometheus Wheeler.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine forest | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Pinophyta | classis = Pinopsida | ordo = Pinales | familia = Pinaceae | genus = Pinus | subgenus = Ducampopinus | sectio = Balfourianae | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Pinus aristata
Pinus longaeva
Pinus balfouriana }}

The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees (Family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae) that can reach an age far greater than that of any other living thing known - up to nearly 5,000 years. There are three closely related species:

Currently, the oldest living organism known is an individual of Pinus longaeva nicknamed "Methuselah" (after Methuselah, the longest-lived person in the Bible), located in the White Mountains of eastern California, measured by core samples to be about 4,700 years old. The U.S. Forest Service does not reveal the actual position of "Methuselah" in the bristlecone grove, in order to protect the tree. A bristlecone older than "Methuselah", named "Prometheus", was cut down in 1964. The other two species are also long-lived, though not to the extreme extent of P. longaeva; specimens of both have been measured or estimated to be up to 3,000 years old.

Image:Bristlecone Wheeler.JPG

Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below tree-line. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, the trees grow very slowly. The wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. As the tree ages, much of its bark may die; in very old specimens often leaving only a narrow strip of living tissue to connect the roots to the handful of live branches.

Image:Gnarled bristlecone wood.jpg

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See also

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References

  • Bailey, D. K. 1970. Phytogeography and taxonomy of Pinus subsection Balfourianae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 57: 210-249.
  • Richardson, D. M. (ed.). 1998. Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 530 p. ISBN 0-521-55176-5.
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External links

pl:Sosna oścista

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