Bristlecone pines shun coddling and eschew constant care. The wretched conditions they prefer, conditions which would serve as a death sentence for virtually any other living species, approach the unbearable.
They prefer the harshness and prove difficult to cultivate. Root rot sets in when planted in a garden.
The resilience of the bristlecone pines is remarkable, an ability to withstand frigid temperatures, parched soil and savage winds that allows them to endure not for centuries but millennia. Nothing else on earth lives so long. The oldest bristlecone pine has celebrated 4,800 birthdays, a stunning accomplishment considering Methuselah celebrated 969.
Even the needles withstand the harsh environment. Clumped in bunches of five, they can stay on a bristlecone for forty years. Needles are waxy and help the tree retain water.
When bristlecone pines are young their female cones are dark purple, a color that helps absorb heat. Later in life cones turn brown.
The root system is an ingenious combination of a few big branching roots for support offset by a web of highly branched, shallow roots. These roots are so well woven through the rugged soil a tree can stand for centuries after its death.
Bristlecone pines also attribute their longevity to their tough, dense wood, gnarled and caked with resins for protection from fungi and insects.
There are three species of bristlecone pines. Pinus longaeva is the oldest of any of earth’s living species. It distinguishes itself as a first-succession species, defined by a preference to take root in ground not occupied by other bristlecones.
Bristlecone pines are found in arid, subalpine regions such as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California’s White Mountains. Their groves are remote, usually found below the tree line in an elevation range of 5,600 to 11,200 feet.
Dolomitic and limestone soils are preferred favorites. Bristlecones like soil rich in alkaline, calcium and magnesium and light on phosphorus. This unsavory blend discourages the growth of most other plants and prevents competing vegetation.
For scientists hoping to learn more about the earth’s history of precipitation and the patterns of short- and long-term droughts, bristlecone pines offer a wealth of evidence. They are where researchers turn to find the earth’s longest continual climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies. From these chronologies they extrapolate data which reveal historic precipitation changes.
The future of bristlecone pines is questionable. Survival is not a given. The species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.
Protected habitats here in the west include the Inyo National Forest and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada.
Admirers will likely never see the oldest of the bristlecone pines. Rangers in the Inyo National Forest aren’t about to reveal its location.
