On Trees - A Daydream and a Rambling
Outside of my bedroom window sits a Plane tree. It’s one of a number running along Bouverie Road West, the long road that stretches from Folkestone town centre to the village of Sandgate. I often find myself gazing out at this view from my writing desk, comforted by its simple beauty. I’m not procrastinating per se, but I’m most definitely daydreaming.
Trees in urban areas are a prominent feature throughout Europe, stretching back decades. Dotted here, there, and everywhere, it’s become commonplace to take their presence for granted. Our rather tremendous neighbours have been on this earth for no less than 470 million years and play a vital role in our very survival. For generations, they’ve stood strong, unmarred by the passage of time, stubbornly clinging to their roots as the world continues to develop and evolve around them. You might say it sounds rather poetic.
One might even be inclined to think trees are immortal - their wise and majestic stature seems destined for such an extraordinary ability. However, research shows that while it is incredibly rare to witness a tree dying of old age, statistics suggest that even the most ancient of trees will eventually reach some form of demise. Whether that be from exposure to a certain disease or burrowing insect, the often uncompromising nature of man, or perhaps even being unfortunate enough to be struck by lightning. Ultimately, these are simply the facts of life.
So with this newfangled trail of thought, I find my curiosity growing. How might we define immortality? To consider the term “ancient trees”, just how old are we talking? Take the Ginkgo Biloba (also known as the maidenhair tree). Native to China, it’s the only living species left in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared on Earth over 290 million years ago. Some specimens alive today are said to be over 2500 years old, and still going strong.
Elsewhere in Asia, Sarv-e Abarqu is a cypress tree in Yazd province, Iran which is thought to be at least 4,000 years old. It’s considered an Iranian national monument. Similarly, a yew tree in the churchyard of St. Dygain's Church in north Wales is around the same age, suggesting it was planted as far back as the Bronze Age.
But it’s the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine that takes the mantle of the oldest living tree species in the natural world, with one such tree in California said to be nearly 5000 years old! Owing to their slow growth, lack of vegetation, and dense composition, they are incredibly resistant to rot and erosion, as well as wildfires.
In reality, asserting whether trees are immortal or not is a much more complex matter than initially meets the eye. Trees don’t age in the same way as us humans, or indeed any other animal. While we may wrinkle, shrink, and generally decline with age, trees grow indefinitely. The sky’s the limit, as it were.
Indeed, from a simple perspective, the much more extensive lifespan of the world’s oldest living trees makes it nigh on impossible to study their ageing process adequately. Like a dizzying magician, they have a whole arsenal of tricks up their sleeve to delay the signs of maturity and hinder the process of senescence. They are known to hold regenerative abilities, replacing parts that they lose over time, and they can even bypass their dead tissue.
Amazing really, and to think we often take them for granted.
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