DALARNA (SWEDEN): The world's oldest tree, claimed to be 9,550 years old, has been found atop the Fulufjället Mountain in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The Norway Spruce, native to Central and Eastern Europe stands at just 16 feet tall. Old Tjikko was discovered in 2004 by geologist Leif Kullman, who named it after his dead dog.
Kullman, a professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University, said vegetative cloning is the only reason the tree survived for thousands of years. While the tree itself looks relatively young at just a few hundred years of age, it is its root system that is thousands of years old. Carbon dating was done on genetically matched plant material collected from under the tree, which gave scientists the remarkable proof. One of the amazing facts is that while the trunk of the tree may die and regrow a couple of times, the root system remains alive and intact.
"The fact that we can see this spruce as a tree today is a consequence of recent climate warming since about 1915," said Kullman. The harsh weather on the shrubby mountaintop, at 2985 feet high, also helped the tree survive in shrub from. Kullman believes it was only in the last century that Tjikko grew into a full-fledged tree.
