The Oldest Living Organism
Bristlecone pines are the oldest living trees in world. The Bristlecone pine is also considered the strongest living organism, having survived the harshest living conditions on Earth.
In 1957, a scientist named Edmund Schulman discovered the oldest living organism in earth’s history – the Bristlecone pine. He named his discovery “Methuselah”. The name actually came from a Bible character under the same name who was known to be the longest-lived person mentioned in the Scriptures.
Image via Wikipedia
This tree is estimated to be 5,000 years old. Imagine it was already an old tree when the Egyptians were building the pyramids.
The Bristlecone pine can be found atop the mountains of Western United States and grows at an elevation of more than 10,000 feet. The tree survived the harshest living conditions on earth: below zero temperature, brawny winds, small amount of rainfall and thin oxygen.
Image via Wikipedia
This tree reminds me of the words of Mark Malloch-Brown,
Good timber does not grow in ease;
The stronger wind, the tougher trees;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
Tribulations in a man’s life will give him character. As such, difficulties that we will encounter could actually be good for us. Adversities are important ingredients of life’s process that will produce good results in our lives. Just like the proud “Methuselah”, the tree that survived the harsh elements of nature.
Image via Wikipedia
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31 Responses to “The Oldest Living Organism”
On March 30, 2009 at 1:54 am
Interesting article.
On March 30, 2009 at 2:14 am
Beautiful!
On March 30, 2009 at 2:43 am
I hope they will protect these trees even though they are tough they still need love to survive.
On March 30, 2009 at 2:50 am
i like your trees, but i think the crud that GROWS ON NUCLEAR FUEL RODS has a pretty good claim to “the harshest living conditions on earth”
On March 30, 2009 at 4:50 am
Thanks for this informative piece.
On March 30, 2009 at 5:23 am
That’s a fascinating information kabayan. The tree is older than Christianity!
On March 30, 2009 at 7:49 am
Interesting article.
On March 30, 2009 at 7:57 am
Great article!
On March 30, 2009 at 8:31 am
Great article! fascinating information… i like it thanks
On March 30, 2009 at 10:05 am
that`s a new thing learned today.. nice simile of using the resistance of the tree that can be applied to our lives..
On March 30, 2009 at 10:40 am
Ancient trees,amazing.
On March 30, 2009 at 11:31 am
Great job! I also enjoyed the analogy of resistance that rutherfranc mentioned.
Just a note to Unofre Pili – yes the tree is older than Christianity, but not older than creation.
On March 30, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Very interesting read….thanks
On March 30, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I’d never heard of this tree before – thanks for the article!
On March 30, 2009 at 4:52 pm
and all this time i hought my grandma was the toughest, now i know better … kidding, thanks for the info.
On March 30, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Good job.
On March 30, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Nice work, interesting.
Thanks,
Clay
On March 30, 2009 at 7:12 pm
check this out! http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/26/oldest-living-creature-discovered-at-4265-years-old/
On March 30, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Very interesting. I would be nice if human can live as long as these trees.
On March 31, 2009 at 12:32 am
Its a great informative article!!!!!
On March 31, 2009 at 7:58 am
wow I leaned something good today.
On March 31, 2009 at 9:18 am
Very interesting.
On March 31, 2009 at 11:22 am
Ver interesting article, that tree is even older than something that’s 4999 years old
. Anyway I have to tell you I’m tougher than that tree because I have to live in the harsh climate of school, lol.
On March 31, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I read something earlier this week about a challenger, a coral that was recently found is older, but some people might disagree about whether it is a single organism.
On March 31, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Nice, i always liked trees.
On March 31, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Fascinating!
On April 2, 2009 at 5:26 am
Great article, pictures make it very interesting and easy to read
On April 3, 2009 at 12:29 am
I love this site, you learn new things everyday on here by people like you, who write some interesting articles.
On April 3, 2009 at 4:35 am
Interesting article, and I really like the pictures.
On April 3, 2009 at 5:55 am
Wonderfully written. Photos appear authenic. I’m impressed. I’ve enjoyed you portfolio. Reading more in progress. Thank You.
On April 4, 2009 at 8:13 am
I love how you ended your article. So true. Thank you my friend.
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