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Discover the world’s oldest living tree 9550 years old

In a harsh mountain region of Sweden, a species of conifer family has been discovered that has existed since 9550 years ago and has become the longest living tree species in the world. The tree named “Old Tjikko” was discovered by Professor Kullman of Umeå University in Sweden in 2004 and its age was determined […]

In a harsh mountain region of Sweden, a species of conifer family has been discovered that has existed since 9550 years ago and has become the longest living tree species in the world.

The oldest living tree

The tree named “Old Tjikko” was discovered by Professor Kullman of Umeå University in Sweden in 2004 and its age was determined using carbon-14.

“During the ice age, sea level was 120 meters lower than today, and most of the area today is the North Sea between England and Norway, then it was forest ,” Prof. Kullman said.

The oldest living tree

With a height of only about 4.8m, the Old Tjikko tree is quite small compared to its 25m relatives in the mountains of Fulufjället, Sweden. However, this amazing conifer is recognized as the world’s oldest single clonal tree.


The oldest living tree

Tjikko germinated about 9,550 years ago, when Great Britain was still linked to Europe by an ice sheet, and glaciers were just beginning to recede across Scandinavia.

The tree lived anonymously until 2004, when it was discovered by geologist Leif Kullman and named Tjikko (after his deceased dog).

The scientists used the carbon method to determine the age of the tree’s root system, which is thousands of years older than the trunk above the ground.

The trunk of the tree is actually only a few hundred years old, but the root system has survived by vegetative reproduction (the stem dies but the roots are alive and sprouting new ones) and the rooting of the branches when touching the ground.


The wind and low temperatures made the Old Tjikko tree look like a bonsai. Big trees can’t live this long.

Due to extreme mountain weather, Tjikko exists as a shrub and has only reached its current height in the past century.

In addition to Tjikko, the world has many incredibly ancient trees, such as the nearly 5,000-year-old Methuselah pine tree in California (USA).

Or Pando – a forest in Utah (USA) that grows from a single tree, estimated to be 80,000-100,000 years old.

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