so sad he named this magnificent specimen after his dog.. really dude.. how about some norse or swedish god or some such .

i presume some translation issues.. but wouldnt one expect that during the ice age.. being so far north..... the whole place would have been under ice.. and the height of the north sea immaterial since one would think it would have been covered by ice???

thanks for the reference...

here is the link to the top scientific journal on the web ... lol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tjikko

and is it really a Norwegian spruce as the original article says.. being in sweden ...

ken

It is the root system, not the tree itself, that is reputed to be 9500 years old. The tree itself is relatively young......only around 600 years, if that. When the upper woody portion gets old and dies, the root system pushes out another replacement.

The Methuselah bristlecone pine in California is still reported to be the oldest non-clonal tree in the world at 4,854 years

Hmm GG, that's plausible then. The cold soil (frozen much of the time) would perhaps aid in preserving the root system.

I thought the tree looked a bit on the small side even though seasonal growth looked to be at least a couple inches. That would've made the smaller tree on the left in the last picture about 1300 yo lol. Maybe that one is coming from the same roots, along with all those low shrubby ones around the main tree.

I'm assuming that a Norway spruce could only propagate itself by layering (living branches coming in contact with the soil) rather than by sprouting from the root system (as in the case of an aspen clone).

Per this USDA Forest Service webpage, "Under natural conditions, particularly in areas of high humidity and high soil moisture, Norway spruce reproduces by layering. It does not sprout from stumps or roots"

These old trees certainly give those conifer gardeners who are concerned about the longevity of their plantings, peace of mind :-)

I think it's just amazing that any tree will grow at all out there in the open, with poor rocky soil and extreme cold temperatures and wind. According to some sources it's growing 100+ meters above the tree line.

https://sciencenorway.no/dna-forests-trees/worlds-oldest-tree-still-growing-near-the-norwegian-swedish-border/2037756#:~:text=Joined%20the%20land%20uplift%20after%20the%20ice%20age&text=The%20reason%20why%20Old%20Tjikko,that%20followed%20the%20ice%20age.

If clonal trees are considered then the title of oldest tree goes to this clonal colony of quaking aspen. 

 https://thetreeographer.com/2017/11/22/pando-aspen/