Bristlecone Pines Are the Oldest Non-Clonal Species on Earth

Some trees alive today were already old when ancient empires rose. The U.S. National Park Service describes Great Basin bristlecone pines as remarkable for being the oldest non-clonal species on the planet. These trees, shaped by wind, snow and rain, survive thousands of years. Hard conditions are part of the secret. Bristlecones live at high elevations where little else grows. They grow very slowly there, and in some years do not even add a ring of growth. The same trees at lower elevations grow faster but do not reach such ages. The word non-clonal matters. The Park Service notes that clonal organisms, groups of genetically identical plants that clone themselves non-sexually, are considered to be much older. It gives the example of a quaking aspen grove in Utah known as Pando, estimated to be around 16,000 years old.