5 ms·

How old is that tree?

emcrazyone 12y ago
@rifleman44 ha! I was thinking the same thing. The tree looks like it has a small trunk. I was thinking there can't be 100 rings and if there were, it would be the whole tree. I'm Mr. Skeptical... It's hard to believe with the tree growth and over a hundred years of weather that the gun stayed propped up like that. It does look a little wedged between two trunks but wow...
- minikites 12y ago
  Trees grow from the top.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  The park service helps narrow down what sort of Juniper it is likely to be: http://www.nps.gov/grba/naturescience/treesandshrubs.htm http://www.nps.gov/grba/naturescience/treesandshrubs.htm One of those species is famously long lived (and slow growing): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum Reaching ~5-6 meters and living hundreds of years. I guess the other is similar, though no mention of ages in the wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_osteosperma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_osteosperma
- jpindar 12y ago
  Don't trees grow very slowly in arid areas like that?
- rifleman44 12y ago
  The gun could also have been laying down at one point then raised slowly as the tree grew.
  - ars 12y ago
    Trees grow from the top - from the very tip of the branches. The trunk never moves up, the gun would not raise as the tree grew. (Grass grows from the bottom, that's why animals can eat it without harming it.)
julienchastang 12y ago
Not sure, but by the way, Great Basin National Park has some of the oldest trees in the world, bristlecomb pines. They are used to study past climates through dendrochronology. If you ever get a chance to go to GBNP, do. It is completely beautiful and the "sky island" ecology is not one you would expect to find in the middle of the Nevada desert.
McKayDavis 12y ago
The third oldest living organism ever documented was a Bristlecone Pine dubbed "Prometheus" in Great Basin National Park (the same park as the story). It was at least 4862 years old before being cut down for study! [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_%28tree%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_%28tree%29

@rifleman44 ha! I was thinking the same thing. The tree looks like it has a small trunk. I was thinking there can't be 100 rings and if there were, it would be the whole tree. I'm Mr. Skeptical... It's hard to believe with the tree growth and over a hundred years of weather that the gun stayed propped up like that. It does look a little wedged between two trunks but wow...

minikites 12y ago
Trees grow from the top.
maxerickson 12y ago
The park service helps narrow down what sort of Juniper it is likely to be: http://www.nps.gov/grba/naturescience/treesandshrubs.htm http://www.nps.gov/grba/naturescience/treesandshrubs.htm One of those species is famously long lived (and slow growing): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum Reaching ~5-6 meters and living hundreds of years. I guess the other is similar, though no mention of ages in the wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_osteosperma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_osteosperma
jpindar 12y ago
Don't trees grow very slowly in arid areas like that?
rifleman44 12y ago
The gun could also have been laying down at one point then raised slowly as the tree grew.
- ars 12y ago
  Trees grow from the top - from the very tip of the branches. The trunk never moves up, the gun would not raise as the tree grew. (Grass grows from the bottom, that's why animals can eat it without harming it.)

julienchastang 12y ago

Not sure, but by the way, Great Basin National Park has some of the oldest trees in the world, bristlecomb pines. They are used to study past climates through dendrochronology. If you ever get a chance to go to GBNP, do. It is completely beautiful and the "sky island" ecology is not one you would expect to find in the middle of the Nevada desert.

McKayDavis 12y ago

The third oldest living organism ever documented was a Bristlecone Pine dubbed "Prometheus" in Great Basin National Park (the same park as the story). It was at least 4862 years old before being cut down for study! [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_%28tree%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_%28tree%29