An Autobiography

The Aztec Sun God / Horace Silver

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Tonight, on the porch over a few glasses of Pinot, we discussed the idea for a story told by a tree rather than a person. After all, stories told by people are getting to be pretty boring and repetive for me. I don’t know how many Netflix series I’ve started and paused.

Methuselah

We discussed the idea of a story told story told by the oldest tree in Sequoia, not far from the site of the oldest living tree in the world in eastern California called Methuselah. It is a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva).  It has long been considered Earth’s oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, Methuselah is 4,853 years old, meaning it was well established by the time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza.

The name of the tree has interesting connections to the Biblical figure Methuselah. He was a mythical biblical patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  It is claimed he lived the longest life in history, dying at 969 years of age. According to the Book of Genesis, Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah. 

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Growing up in LA, one of my favorite memories is visiting Sequoia Park when I was six or so. There is that photo of me standing next to this wall of a tree called the General Sherman. Ever since then, I’ve always thought that the General Sherman was the oldest and lartest tree in the world. Until I did some of the above research tonight.

General Sherman Tree (Greatest Tree = Greatest Tourist Trap)

So, after a little research on the internet, I was surprised to learn that the tallest tree currently living is a specimen of Sequoia sempervirens in Redwood National Park in California, USA. Nicknamed Hyperion, the coast redwood was discovered by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor (both USA) on 25 August 2006 and its precise location is kept a closely guarded secret to try and protect it.

Off the Guiness Book of World Records site, by climbing and with direct tape-drop, the 2006 height was 115.55 m (379 ft 1.2 in), which was the average between the low and high sides of the tree as it grows on a slope. By 2019, the height had grown to 116.07 m (380 ft 9.7 in). The tree, which has a diameter of 4.94 m (16 ft 2.5 in) and an estimated aboveground dry mass of 209 metric tonnes (230 US tons), also has the distinction of having the world’s deepest crown (from the top of the tree to where the foliage begins), at 90.9 m (298 ft 2.7 in). Hyperion is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old.

Hyperion

But California’s coast redwoods are still the tallest of the tall in the the world of trees. They are so tall that mats of soil on the upper branches support other plants and whole communities of worms, insects, salamanders and mammals. Plants that grow on other plants are called epiphytes. Some of the redwoods’ epiphytes are trees themselves. Some of the trees that have been documented growing on coast redwoods reach heights of 40 feet on their own.

An Interesting Chart

The story of a great tree. It does not have to be some world record holder. The important thing is that is has been a survivor and witness to many events during its long life. And, willing to relate its story. From its vast historical perspective, the tree comments on life.