Methuselah the Ancient Pine

ancient · california · nature record

Nearly 5,000 years old. Methuselah is a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree that has been growing in California's White Mountains for about 4,858 years. That means it was already ancient when the pyramids were built.

Lives in harsh mountains. The tree grows high up in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California, where the weather is tough and the soil has very few nutrients. These harsh conditions actually helped it live so long because they slow down the tree's decay.

World record holder. Methuselah holds the official title for the oldest non-clonal tree in the entire world. This means it's the oldest single tree that grew from a seed, not from a cutting of another tree.

Named after the Bible. The tree's name comes from Methuselah, a person in the Bible who supposedly lived to be 969 years old. People use his name whenever they want to talk about something incredibly old.