Bristlecone pines are known for attaining great ages.
The oldest bristlecone pine in the White Mountains is Methuselah which has a verified age of 4,851 years.
It is located in the Inyo National Forest in Eastern California.
However, the specific location of Methuselah is very closely guarded secret.

The other two species, Pinus balfouriana and Pinus aristata, are also long-lived, though not to the extreme extent of P. longaeva; specimens of both have been measured or estimated to be up to 3,000 years old.
The longevity of the trees is believed to be related to the proportion of dead wood to live wood.
This high ratio reduces respiration and water loss, thereby extending the life of the tree.

Trees that reproduce by cloning can be considered to be much older than bristlecone pines.
A colony of 47,000 quaking aspen trees (nicknamed "Pando"), covering 106 acres (43 ha) in the Fishlake National Forest of the United States, has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although tree ring samples date individual, above-ground trees at an average of about 130 years.

Bristlecone pines are invaluable to dendroclimatologists, because they provide the longest continual climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies on Earth.
By cross-dating millennia-old bristlecone pine debris, some chronologies reach beyond 9,000 years before present.
In addition, ratios of stable carbon isotopes from bristlecone pine tree rings are sensitive to past variations in moisture availability.
This information can be used to reconstruct precipitation changes in the past.

The Rocky Mountain population is severely threatened by an introduced fungal disease known as white pine blister rust, and by mountain pine beetles.
Climate change may also affect the species as temperatures increased 0.5–1 °C (0.90–1.80 °F) over a 30-year period throughout the southern Rocky Mountain range.
These changes in climate would mostly affect trees in higher elevations.
With these problems, the genetic diversity within the species has become a concern; however, old specimens of bristlecone pine have survived previous warmer periods.
Bristlecone pines are known for attaining great ages. The oldest bristlecone pine in the White Mountains is Methuselah which has a verified age of 4,851 years. It is located in the Inyo National Forest in Eastern California. However, the specific location of Methuselah is very closely guarded secret.
The other two species, Pinus balfouriana and Pinus aristata, are also long-lived, though not to the extreme extent of P. longaeva; specimens of both have been measured or estimated to be up to 3,000 years old. The longevity of the trees is believed to be related to the proportion of dead wood to live wood. This high ratio reduces respiration and water loss, thereby extending the life of the tree.
Trees that reproduce by cloning can be considered to be much older than bristlecone pines. A colony of 47,000 quaking aspen trees (nicknamed "Pando"), covering 106 acres (43 ha) in the Fishlake National Forest of the United States, has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although tree ring samples date individual, above-ground trees at an average of about 130 years.
Bristlecone pines are invaluable to dendroclimatologists, because they provide the longest continual climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies on Earth. By cross-dating millennia-old bristlecone pine debris, some chronologies reach beyond 9,000 years before present. In addition, ratios of stable carbon isotopes from bristlecone pine tree rings are sensitive to past variations in moisture availability. This information can be used to reconstruct precipitation changes in the past.
The Rocky Mountain population is severely threatened by an introduced fungal disease known as white pine blister rust, and by mountain pine beetles. Climate change may also affect the species as temperatures increased 0.5–1 °C (0.90–1.80 °F) over a 30-year period throughout the southern Rocky Mountain range. These changes in climate would mostly affect trees in higher elevations. With these problems, the genetic diversity within the species has become a concern; however, old specimens of bristlecone pine have survived previous warmer periods.
Bristlecone pine