Europe's oldest living resident continues to age gracefully
Photo courtesy of Dr. Oliver Konter, Mainz.
Digital Reporter
Friday, October 28, 2016, 5:30 PM - Looks can be deceiving, and that's arguably the case when it comes to the tree pictured above.
At an approximate age of 1,075 years old, this Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) is actually Europe's oldest living inhabitant, scientists have discovered.
The pine currently grows in the highlands of northern Greece.
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"It is quite remarkable that this large, complex and impressive organism has survived so long in such an inhospitable environment, in a land that has been civilized for over 3000 years," Swedish dendrochronologist, Paul J. Krusic said in a statement.
Krusic led the expedition that discovered the tree. Scientists from Stockholm University in Sweden, University of Mainz in Germany, and the University of Arizona in the U.S. were on the team that uncovered the millennium pine.
"Many years ago I read a thesis about this very interesting forest in Greece," Krusic explains. "In our research, we try to build long chronologies to construct climate histories, so finding living trees of old age is one of our motivations."
To determine the age of the tree, Krusic and his team had to take a "core of wood from the outside to the centre."
Krusic notes that the core is one metre, and has 1075 annual rings, indicating the age of the pine tree.
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Researchers still didn't reach the centre of the tree, Krusic told the Washington Post, which means there are likely many more years that are unaccounted for.
He also noted that the iconic pine -- nicknamed Adonis -- is surrounded by other trees that also range in age at approximately 1,000 years old.
”I am impressed, in the context of western civilization, all the human history that has surrounded this tree; all the empires, the Byzantine, the Ottoman, all the people living in this region," Krusic says. "So many things could have led to its demise. Fortunately, this forest has been basically untouched for over a thousand years."
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SOURCE: Stockholm University | The Washington Post
Image courtesy of Dr. Oliver Konter, Mainz.
