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+--- Thread: A 2,624-year-old tree found in North Carolina swamp (arboreal longevity competitions) (/thread-7069.html)
A 2,624-year-old tree found in North Carolina swamp (arboreal longevity competitions) - C C - May 10, 2019
https://www.livescience.com/65447-ancient-tree-discovered-in-carolina-swamp.html
EXCERPT: According to a new study published (May 9) in the journal Environmental Research Communications, scientists studying tree rings in North Carolina's Black River swampland have discovered a bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum) that's at least 2,624 years old, making it one of the oldest non-clonal, sexually reproducing trees in the world. (Clonal trees, which are vast colonies of genetically identical plants that grow from a single ancestor, can live for tens of thousands of years.)
How old is 2,624 years, really? To borrow an analogy from the Charlotte Observer, that age makes this tree older than Christianity, the Roman Empire and the English language. [...] The new study reveals that bald cypresses have even greater longevity than researchers previously thought. In addition to the 2,624-year-old individual reported above, the researchers found a 2,088-year-old cypress in the same swamp — and there are likely more where that came from. (MORE - details)