Methuselah is an ancient bristlecone pine among the oldest individually dated non-clonal trees.
This Great Basin bristlecone pine grows in California’s White Mountains, in the Inyo National Forest. Its exact location is kept secret to protect it. Ring-counting and cross-dating indicate an age of roughly 4,850 years, with commonly cited estimates placing it at about 4,855 years old.
The tree belongs to Pinus longaeva, a species adapted to cold, dry, high-elevation conditions. Bristlecone pines often grow slowly, and harsh weather can kill sections of a tree while leaving other parts alive. This creates twisted forms and narrow strips of living tissue, but it also preserves a long record of annual growth.
Methuselah is often described as the oldest known living individual tree, but wording matters. Clonal organisms can be older as genetic colonies, and claims about tree ages depend on dating methods and whether the tree is still alive. Prometheus, another bristlecone, was cut down in 1964.