The World's Oldest Plant -Alive at the Last Ice Age

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7f9e34e8d7a3.jpg[/atsimg]

Quote from source:
Alive today, the 13-thousand year old Jurupa Oak lived through an Ice Age and existed before agriculture.

Scientists found the oak in an unlikely habitat: dry and hot rocky hills and found that it survives against the odds like an insane sci-fi villain: by cloning itself to continue life after being burned to death. The Jurupa Oak colony extends over twenty-five meters, expanding at a pace of two millimeters per year. Genetic analysis shows that the colony is really one organism.

The aged oaks acorns are sterile - it sacrificed the ability to reproduce for extended life (providing the psychotic drive all immortal villains need.) Instead it survives California wildfires by resprouting around burned buds. In fact, this Phoenix-like cloning is the only way it can expand, multiply reborn in fire, expanding ever-so-slowly outwards each time it happens.

It's an incredible example of adaptation: this lifeform was already middle-aged by the Bronze Age, and has been happily soaking up the sun as entire civilizations rise and fall. We'll have to wait and see which of us wins this round.

I wanted to post this as this is an amazing story.

It is weird to think that this tree has been through it all. It has outlasted all of our civilizations (that we officially have) and will probably be around for much longer.

Beautiful story.

Any thoughts?

Pred...

www.dailygalaxy.com...

news.discovery.com...

reply to post by predator0187


Only a few feet tall, yes I can see how it could of been missed, it looks like shrubbery.
Pretty cool find though and I 'm glad it wasn't lost to development. I guess this means that the piece of land there has remained undisturbed for 13000 years? Or is it the pieces they found?
Anyway, nice find

Peace,
spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

Genetic analysis confirmed their suspicion. Each of the 70 stems are genetically identical; they are the same plant, currently growing in an oval 25 yards long and 8 yards wide.

Thanks for the reply, lots of S&F's but no replies.

I like the discussions.

Pred...

reply to post by predator0187


Just thought I would add this;

List of oldest trees,

en.wikipedia.org...

I like #2 in Nevada, cut down. Disappointing really.

Also the oldest clonal one is approximately a million. WOW.

This stuff is unbelievably cool.

Pred...

The article is a little misleading, It's not one tree that is 13000 years old, it's a species that lives through cloning itself so the tree now is identical to the tree 13000 years ago, but not actually the "same" tree in a certain sense

If I kept on cloning myself and dying then would I be the same person, I don't know

Originally posted by davespanners
The article is a little misleading, It's not one tree that is 13000 years old, it's a species that lives through cloning itself so the tree now is identical to the tree 13000 years ago, but not actually the "same" tree in a certain sense

If I kept on cloning myself and dying then would I be the same person, I don't know

edit on 30-11-2010 by davespanners because: (no reason given)

But really it is one tree. It might be able to clone itself but it is identical to the first one. So if "identical" is different from the "same" then your right, but I think it is the same.

If you could be cloned, completely 100% then I would say you were that old.

It also stated that it started in the middle of the oval shape, so maybe in the middle of the oval that part has been alive the whole time.



Pred...

reply to post by predator0187


So why is the cloned tree that is 100000 years old not considered the oldest and this one is?

Originally posted by davespanners
reply to post by predator0187

 

So why is the cloned tree that is 100000 years old not considered the oldest and this one is?

Because:

Covers 107 acres (0.43 km2) and has around 47,000 stems (average age 130 years), which continually die and are renewed by its roots. Is also the heaviest known organism, weighing 6,000 tonnes.

So, it's average age is only about 130 years. Like I said the middle of the other might be the oldest one and that is where they are getting the age from. This one obviously dies.

Pred...

Very cool discovery, I want some cuttings!!!

There are Creosote Rings(Larrea tridentata - Creosote bush) that date back 11,700 years old in the Mojave Desert.
These are also clones of the original plant that have spread into rings.
en.wikipedia.org...
www.lucernevalley.net...
en.wikipedia.org...

This is a list of some of the long living organisms.
en.wikipedia.org...

SO this tree just replicates itself?. Interesting...we try to clone things in labs all the time but we fail. Yet nature can adapt and clone at will. The Earth is capable of astounding feats. Global warming and toxic chemicals is not killing the Earth, it is killing us. The earth will survive with minimal effects. If any at all.

Very cool I love living fossils. another that comes to mind is the ginko tree. Very interesting as it has characteristics of both deciduous (leafy) and coniferous (piny) trees. Apparently it was rediscovered in a buddhist monestary a couple hundred years ago.

[url= www.vitaminsdiary.com...[/url]

Hmmmm interesting how after extreme age the trees have given up the ability to reproduce and instead went the way of cloning. Just like what all these extremely old alien civilizations are supposed to have done as well hmmmmmmmm? ;-)

I'm just stirring the pot, this is a very cool article

Originally posted by sparrowstail
Very cool I love living fossils. another that comes to mind is the ginko tree. Very interesting as it has characteristics of both deciduous (leafy) and coniferous (piny) trees. Apparently it was rediscovered in a buddhist monestary a couple hundred years ago.

[url= www.vitaminsdiary.com...[/url]

edit on 1-12-2010 by sparrowstail because: (no reason given)

Thats an awesome article as well. Interesting to see all the diversity of life on Earth and yet we still debate if we are the only planet with life.

Thanks for the share!!

Pred...

That is great, someone should bring a laptop and speakers up to it and show it some history of what's taken place and where the world has gone.

People talk about the human spirit to survive... talk about a tree escaping the odds!!!

S & F!!!