Hi folks, I'm about to take a year out from my job, to go traveling and look at some of the wonders of the world. As I work at the national arboretum here in the uk, trees will feature very heavily in my travels and in particular, conifers. However, some of the trees I want to see are very rare and one or two are kept secret. The first is the oldest Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) in the world which I believe is in California. How would I go about finding it or finding someone who would be willing to show me where it is? I have read somewhere that people are generally discouraged from visiting the site in order to protect the tree. Another plant I really want to see is the Parasitaxus in New Caledonia. Again, it is very rare and delicate and I would imagine its whereabouts is kept secret. Lastly the Australian Wollemia nobilis. We have just planted one in our grounds but I'd love to see one in its wild habitat. Any ideas who I should contact to be able to see these wonderful plants? Luke
The oldest tree is a Pinus longaeva named "Methuselah", in the Methuselah grove in the White Mountains. Been there, seen it. Parasitaxus shouldn't be too difficult to find, tho' I don't know sites myself. Wollemia they are not permitting anyone to visit, because of the risks of contamination (fungal spores on boots, etc). Chances of getting to see it in the wild, zero.
i watched a show on the bristlecone pine....the oldest one was cut down to see how old it was....what a shame..it was long ago and i heard that the Now oldest one is protected and those who know arent too willing to let anyone know where exactly it is....
I seem to recall the same thing about the oldest bristlecone - I think I read it in Jim Balog's "Tree: A New Vision of the American Forest". I'll check tonight, if I remember.
"The oldest known living specimen is the "Methuselah" tree, 4,789 years, age verified by crossdating, sampled by Schulman and Harlan in the White Mountains of CA. An age of 4,844 years was determined post-mortem (after being cut down) for specimen WPM-114 from Wheeler Peak, NV." http://www.conifers.org/pi/pin/longaeva.htm Same page has a paragraph on where to go and see old specimens.
