The most ancient plants in the world. Amazing plants. The most ancient contemporaries

Life is a miracle that cannot be repeated (no matter how hard scientists try). All the variety of forms of flora and fauna is the result of painstaking and slow selection. Due to the fact that billions of years ago the first organic molecules appeared in the primordial soup, now living organisms are distributed almost everywhere. All of them are in perfect balance between separate species and it may seem that the harmony of the extravaganza of life will never end. However, the Universe has its own opinion on this matter: meteors, volcanic activity or a change in the composition of the atmosphere led to the fact that harmony came to naught. And this happened, though not often, but regularly (and by the standards of geological periods - almost every day). It should be understood that 98% of all organisms living on the planet have already become extinct and perished. And some of them were (by our standards) quite strange. Ten such plants will be discussed today.

Petrified trunk and bumps

In 1919, a botanist named Anselmo Windhausen discovered that the inhabitants of Argentine Patagonia were collecting some fossils, attributing to them miraculous properties... The scientist was interested in fossil remains and in 1923 he discovered the petrified forest of Cerro Cuadrado. The age of this formation was 160,000,000 years. Research has shown that the forest was located in this area from the early to mid-Jurassic period. Then a powerful volcanic eruption turned tree trunks into stone. Analysis of the stone provided new information. At that time, the forest consisted of two plant species: Par araucaria patagonica and Araucaria mirabilis. It was Arukaria Mirabili who left behind the mysterious petrified formations. They turned out to be plant cones. They are perfectly preserved, as well as the trunks found right there thanks to erosion.

These trees reached a height of 100 meters. Their diameter was three meters. The cones were spherical formations, their diameter was 3-4 cm. The closest relative of these giants is Bunia-bunia in the southeast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. The name Araucaria mirabilis comes from the toponym "Aroko" and the Latin word mirabilis, which means "amazing".

Computer model of the Kuksonia

At the moment, this plant is considered the oldest representative of the flora on the planet. Cuxonia grew on Earth over 400,000,000 years ago. This plant did not exceed a few centimeters in height and was the first living organism with a stem (albeit very primitive when compared with modern plants). Cuxonia propagated by spores that were located in spherical processes at the end of the stems. Ferns now reproduce in a similar way. However, these plants had no leaves or roots. Scientists still do not know how they were attached to the ground. Some botanists believe that the roots are simply not preserved. Others are sure: a rootless system means that the cuxonia lived on water or even under water.

Cuxonia lived at ease in the late Silurian geological period. The oldest fossils are found in Ireland. Their age is 425 million years. This plant grew on coasts from 45 degrees north latitude to 30 degrees south latitude. Evolution did not stand still, and by the early Devonian period, other plant species appeared in the arena. In any case, the dominance over millions of years has allowed the Cuxonia to set the stage for new species and creatures.

Lepidodendron scales

Lepidodendrons were the most common plant species during the Carboniferous geological period. At this time, there was a record amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Because of this, the representatives of the flora grew rapidly and died just as quickly. Temperatures were significantly higher at the time, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Lepidodendrons covered almost all of the earth, so now most of the coal is their fossilized remains. The Carboniferous period ended 300 million years ago, but fossils of lepidodendrons have been found in China. Their age is 205 million years. The closest relatives of these plants are modern mosses. The only difference is in size: lepidodendrons reached a height of 40 meters, and the diameter of the trunks exceeded 2 meters. A thick layer of bark covered the pulp.

These plants grew in small groups and their life was amazingly short: 10-15 years. The diamond-shaped scales remained in place of the fallen leaves and the age of the plant could be determined from them. The lepidodendrons had no branches: only the trunk and foliage. Like all primitive trees, lepidodendrons multiply by spores towards the end. life cycle... In the Mesozoic period, this species completely disappeared, giving way to more perfect representatives of the flora.

Trade in Sylphium on a Greek dish

Historian John M. Riddle (University of North Carolina) has studied ancient civilizations throughout his practice. He advanced the theory that the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and even the Romans controlled the population. Many scientists are convinced that the cause is high infant mortality and military losses. However, Riddle is convinced that it was during calm periods that the decline in population was especially noticeable. Hence, there was a powerful and well-known contraceptive at that time. The professor considers them to be Sylphius, a close relative of common parsley. The healing properties of this plant have been widely known since ancient times. Not much information has been preserved about sylphia, but ancient texts also mention that it can be used to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

Sylphius grew up on the coastal territory of modern Libya. Here the ancient Greeks in 630 BC built a colony called Cyrene. The city grew and grew rapidly, mainly due to the sylphium trade throughout the Mediterranean. Even on Cyrene coins, this plant was depicted. Even the Egyptians and Minoans developed a special hieroglyph for sylph. The consumption of the plant was so active that the species ceased to exist by the first century BC. This happened because the ancient people could not tame the sylph and it grew only in the wild. It was impossible to control the collection, since the regular troops could not cope with the smugglers who landed at night and harvested. Pliny the Elder claimed that the last stem of the sylphium was presented to the emperor Nero, who immediately ate the offering. It is possible that the information was inaccurate and this plant still exists, but under a different name.

Petrified trunk cut

This tree has a lot in common with Araucaria mirabilis, although they are separated by several tens of millions of years. As the name suggests, Araucarioxylon arizonicum covered abundantly the land now located in the state of Arizona. However, 207 million years ago, all of this lush forest was suddenly covered with a layer of lava and volcanic ash, turning the forest into fossils. Huge trunks can be seen today in the Stone Forest National Park. The trees reached a height of 70 meters. The closest relatives of this giant are Araucaria Chilean and Araucaria varifolia.

The Navajo Indians believe that the stone trunks are the bones of the Great Giant, who was killed by their ancestors in time immemorial. In the Paiute tribe, they think differently: these are the arrows of the god of thunder. It was not until 1888 that Smithsonian curator F.H. Nollton determined the origin of these fossils. As soon as information became public, people rushed to collect stone wood to make furniture, tiles and decorations from it. In 1902, the park became a protected area, and in 1922 it was given the status of a reserve. This has helped to reduce the theft of fossils, but approximately 13 tons of petrified araucarioxylon arizonicum wood is taken by tourists every year.

Glassopteris leaf prints

In 1912, German geophysicist, meteorologist and polar explorer Alfred Lothar Wegener argued that continents drift across the surface of our planet. Thanks to modern research and satellite imagery, we know this happens all the time. However, until the middle of the twentieth century, this theory was perceived ambiguously. However, it was Wegener who saw the similarity of the outlines of Africa and South America, which look like two puzzles. To prove his theory, the scientist analyzed data on fossils on both sides of the Atlantic. A great many matches were found. And the main one was the glassopteris.

Thanks to the widespread distribution of this plant in the Southern Hemisphere, Wegener was able to prove that Africa, Antarctica, South America and Australia once shared borders and belonged to the mainland known as Gondwana. Glassopteris was the dominant plant species during the Permian period 300,000,000 years ago. This extinct plant was a relative of the modern fern and reached 30 meters in height. There were several species in the glassopteris family, but very little is known about their differences.

This uncertainty is due to the fact that it remains a mystery whether the fossilized remains are parts of the same species at different stages of development, or belong to different species. It is precisely known that the glassopteris were deciduous plants and shed foliage regularly. They grew almost everywhere, but there is no complete information about what this tree looked like. According to recent reports, the glassopteris were large shrubs, similar to modern magnolia or ginkgo.

The first bloom of Franklinia in the last 200 years

As you might expect, this plant is named after Benjamin Franklin. Its other name is Franklinia alatamaha. Franklinia was discovered by two botanists, John Bartram and his son, William, in 1765. Franklinia grew in a narrow strip of forest near the Alatamaha River in Macintosh County, Georgia. Scientists have described the plant as a 7 meter tall shrub with large and fragrant flowers. The plant has dark green leaves, which turn red, yellow and even pink by autumn. The shrub bloomed until the first frost. When the Bartrams returned to the area in 1770, they found that the Franklinia population had declined greatly. Since 1803, there has not been a single recorded case of Franklinia alatamaha in the wild.

The cause of the extinction is still unknown, but scientists assume that the culprit is the closed nature of the species and its habitat. Perhaps the cause was pesticides from the cotton fields upriver. Fortunately, biologists took the seeds of this plant with them and grew them in greenhouses. Franklinia is popular now garden plant... On stamps issued in 1969, the Franklinia symbolizes the southern states. Recently, biologists have begun to conduct experiments to return Franklinia alatamaha to the natural environment of the Alatamaha River, where the plant was discovered several centuries ago.

Strychnos electri - 30 million years ago (Dominican Republic)

In 1986, an entomologist named George Poinar of Oregon state university went to the Dominican Republic to bring more than 500 pieces of amber, in which various fossils were preserved. They were all found in local mines. Over the next 30 years, Poinar researched insects trapped in petrified resin. However, plants were also among his finds. He sent the pictures to his colleague, Lena Struve at Rutgers University. Since the flowers are perfectly preserved, we managed to find out that they belong to the well-known family of poisonous flowers Strychnos. They contain strychnine, which is used in pesticides and poisons.

The plant was named electri (from the Greek electrum - amber). It is believed that the sample is the oldest find of flora preserved in amber. It is between 15 and 45 million years old. The find could shed light on the development of the species itself and many other plants. In addition, strychnos electri has been lying on the shelves for almost 30 years, so it is possible that in the near future new species of other representatives of the ancient flora will appear among the amber finds.

Easter Island symbol in the Berlin Botanical Garden

Easter Island is one of the most remote places on the planet from civilization. The nearest islands are thousands of kilometers away (South America is almost 4,000 kilometers away). The most famous attraction of the island is 900 stone idols, or "moai". They were built by locals in the 13th century. Not everyone knows that the island was not so deserted before. For centuries, people have cut down the forests that densely cover the island. Because of this, at the turn of the 17th century, the civilization on the island fell into decay. The arrival of the Europeans completed the process. Dutch explorer Jacob Roggewijn, who discovered the island on Easter in 1722, noted that the soil here is fertile. However, now less than 10% of the island's area is covered with endemic plant species, and the topsoil is fertilized with imported chemicals.

The Toromiro tree, which is one of the island's symbols, no longer grows there. the last specimen was felled in the crater of the Rano Kao volcano in 1965. This small tree was no more than two meters tall with bright red bark. In the 50s of the twentieth century, the seeds of the sophora toromiro were collected and now this species grows in some collections in Chile and in European botanical gardens. Experiments to return the national symbol of Easter Island to its natural habitat have so far been unsuccessful.

Prototaxites - 350 million years ago (Worldwide)

These mysterious fossilized organisms were discovered in 1859 in Canada. From the very first day, they baffled the scientific community. Since then, fossilized prototaxites have been found all over the world. Their height is about 8 meters. The first representatives of the species date back 420 million years, and the youngest ones disappeared from the fossils about 70 million years later. Most scientists believed it was some form of lichen or algae, but there was no evidence for this version. Only in 2001, Professor Francis Huber of the National Museum natural history found a solution in Washington: prototaxites were mushrooms. He made this conclusion based on a comparison of the tissues of modern mushrooms with fossils.

There was no clear evidence, but that changed when another paleontologist, Kevin Boyes of the University of Chicago, did not perform carbon analysis. The ratio and structural features of carbon molecules in the fossils made it possible to prove that prototaxites were not plants, which means that they were giant mushrooms that reigned on planet Earth at that time.

The bowels of the planet keep a huge amount of secrets about the past, so we can say with confidence that there are even more discoveries of fantastic species of flora and fauna that once existed on our blue ball.

Plants play an important role on the planet. It's no secret that trees are the lungs of the planet, and flowers are best decoration parks and the globe. The first plants existed long before the appearance of man himself - geologists today find their fossilized remains. But which plants of our time can be considered the most ancient? And have those rare ancient specimens survived to this day?

1 The oldest plant in the world - Old Tikko

He is 9550 years old. This is a common spruce, officially recognized as the oldest clonal type tree on earth. It grows in the national park of Sweden in the province of Dalarna.

2

One of the most ancient plants on earth is a tree with the interesting name "glyptostroboid metasequoia". It was believed that it died long ago, but in 1943 a living representative of this genus was discovered in China. After researching the remains and materials taken from a living tree, it was found that their age does not differ so much.

3

Brazil boasts the oldest non coniferous tree... This is the Patriarch of the forest, which is more than 3000 years old. Unfortunately, the Patriarch grows in the very center of the logging zone, which means that he risks being destroyed every day.

4

In Taiwan, until 1998, there was a tree with an age of 3,000 years: the Alishan Sacred Tree from the genus of cypress, in other words - the red cypress. Today, a fence has been installed around its trunk, testifying to the sanctity and value of the plant.

5

In 1968, the Suga Jamon tree was discovered on Yakushima Island in Japan. Its age is estimated in the range from 2,500 to 7,200 years. It is impossible to determine the exact date, because the inside of the wood is completely rotted - this often happens with old plants. The plant belongs to the species "Japanese cryptomeria". Its circumference is 16.2 m, its height is 25.3 m.

6

In Italy, the Cormac Tree grows - this is the oldest tree, which is also called the European olive. It is about 3,000 years old, and it "lives" in Sardinia. Well, if you think about it, it is not surprising that the oldest olive tree is located in Italy.

7

The chestnut of hundreds of horses is a tree of the type "sowing chestnut". It got its name because of the legend, according to which one hundred knights were able to shelter from the rain under its crown. Its representatives are also present in Russia - in the south of the Krasnodar Territory. The main plant, which is more than 3,000 years old, grows in Sicily. It is this tree, according to the official data of the Guinness Book of Records, that is the thickest: its circumference is almost 60 meters.

8

Fitzroy cypress is the oldest representative of the Fitzroy family. He is now on the verge of extinction. Under natural conditions, these trees grow in South America and Patagonia. Also, the climate of Sochi is well suited for them. The oldest representative, 58 meters high and 2.4 meters in diameter, can be seen in the Argentine National Park. Its age is over 2600 years.

9

A very interesting specimen grows in the California National Park. This is a "mammoth tree" named General Sherman. Its age is over 2,500 years. The total weight of the plant is almost 2,000 tons, and the height reaches 85 meters. It is not only one of the oldest, but also the largest tree on Earth.

10

Sri Maha Bodiya from the genus of ficus is a sacred tree of Buddhists. They believe that it was under him that Buddha attained enlightenment. The height of the tree does not exceed 30 meters, and is more than 2,300 years old.

The list of the oldest plants on the planet can be continued. Some of them were cut down due to safety measures, many were destroyed by poachers, but most of the earth's centenarians have survived to this day and can tell us about the past of the Earth.

The first representatives of the flora appeared on the planet more than 2 billion years ago, in the era that researchers call the archaea. Consider the most ancient plants on Earth - how they looked and what role they played in the evolutionary process.

Age of Archean

This period is separated from us by billions of years, so the data on what living organisms existed at that time are very arbitrary and often have the character of hypotheses. Scientists have little material for research, since the representatives of this ancient time did not leave behind any traces. In this geological era, there was no oxygen in the atmosphere, so only those organisms that did not need it could survive. Features of the plant world of the Archean era are as follows:

• The most ancient plants on Earth are considered to be blue-green algae; organic matter - marble, limestone - testifies to the fact that they already existed.
• Colonial algae appeared later.
• The next stage in the development of flora is the emergence of photosynthetic organisms. They absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and gave off oxygen.

It can be concluded that algae are the most ancient plants on Earth, their role was more than significant: it was these tiny representatives of the flora that managed to fill the atmosphere with oxygen necessary for life and made it possible for further evolution. Living organisms were able to leave the sea and move to land.

Proterozoic

The next stage in the development of the most ancient plants on Earth is the Proterozoic era, it was then that many varieties of algae were born:

• red;
• brown;
• green.

It was during this era that a clear division of organisms into plants and animals took place. The former could synthesize oxygen, while the latter did not have this ability.

Paleozoic

The most ancient plants on Earth are algae, it is to them that we owe the appearance of an atmosphere saturated with oxygen. They made our world livable. In the first two periods of the Paleozoic, the flora was represented exclusively by algae, but other plants gradually appeared:

• During the Silurian period, spore plants were formed. Soil appeared, so they were able to grow on land.
• In Delur, rhinophytes arose - the simplest representatives of the fauna.
• Further, lymphoids and ancestral ferns, gymnosperms appear.
• In the Carboniferous period, horsetail-like ferns arise.

The first forests of huge horsetails, ferns and lyres appear on the planet. In the Carboniferous period, the highest blossoming is reached by ploons and calamites, which often rose 30-40 meters above the earth's surface. Gradually dying away, these plants formed reserves of coal, which mankind uses to this day. The oldest plants on Earth have played a crucial role in giving us a valuable mineral. Without coal, industrial development would have been impossible.

In the Permian period, some coniferous species are formed.

Plant emergence on land: process features

The most ancient plants on Earth that left the water element and moved to land, as the researchers believe, were algae and lichens. They did not leave behind any traces and conclusions about their existence are made only on the basis of indirect signs:

• Formation of rocks. This process is possible only with the participation of living organisms.
• The process of soil formation in water could not go - this indicates that the plants have already reached the surface of the earth.
• Nowadays algae, similar to fossils, are found on land in the form of plaque on stones and bark, in conditions of increased importance. Therefore, the researchers suggest that in ancient times, they could also adapt to life outside the sea.

In the later periods of the Paleozoic, terrestrial plants appear that have not survived to this day. Only their petrified spores have survived. They are very similar to the spores of liverworts, modern plants related to mosses. It can be concluded that the most ancient plants on Earth are mosses, while horsetails "came out" from the sea and settled on land during the late Paleozoic.

First forests

The first representatives of the flora preferred to settle in humid places, so fern forests were often drowned in water. The oldest forests were shallow water bodies, similar to swamps, but devoid of a peat layer. It was here that giant ferns grew. Such an ecosystem is often referred to as a forest-reservoir.

The first gymnosperms

The oldest plants on Earth multiplied with spores, which were very vulnerable and could die in adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, the appearance of gymnosperms has become an important step on the path of evolution. The seeds had a number of advantages over spores:

• they had a supply of nutrients;
• could survive adverse conditions;
• not afraid of exposure to UV rays and drying;

Mesozoic

At this time, the most important processes take place:

• formation of continents;
• the origin of lakes and seas;
• climate change.

Vegetable world also undergoes significant changes: giant ferns and lyres are dying out, gymnosperms are spreading. Plant prints with angiosperm traits have been found in the Early Cretaceous and Jurassic strata. These were primitive and small forms. Angiosperms became widespread in the Middle Cretaceous, about a hundred million years ago. However, by the end of the period, they had become the dominant form of plant life on Earth. The plant world became more and more similar to the one we are used to.

The features of the flora of the Mesozoic era are as follows:

• The emergence of vessels in plants, the functions of which were to conduct water and nutrients.
• A reproductive organ is formed - a flower. Thanks to insect pollination, flowering plants quickly spread across the continents.
• The predecessors of modern cypresses and pines appear.

We examined which plants are the most ancient on Earth, traced the main paths of the evolutionary development of flora in geological eras. Despite the fact that the first algae did not leave behind any traces, their role is enormous: they were able to fill the atmosphere of the planet with oxygen and made it possible for living organisms to land on land.

Our planet was not always green. A long time ago, when life was just beginning, the land was empty and lifeless - the first forms chose the oceans as their habitat. But gradually the earth's surface also began to be assimilated by various creatures. The first plants on Earth are also the earliest land dwellers. What were the ancestors of the modern representatives of the flora?

Photo: pikabu.ru

So, imagine the Earth 420 million years ago, in an era called the Silurian period. This date was not chosen by chance - it was at this time, according to scientists, that plants finally began to conquer the land.

For the first time, the remains of Kuksonia were found in Scotland (the first representative of the terrestrial flora was named after Isabella Cookson, a famous paleobotanist). But scientists suggest that it was distributed throughout the globe.

Getting out of the waters of the oceans and starting land development was not so easy. To do this, the plants had to literally rebuild the entire body: acquire a shell that resembles a cuticle, protecting it from drying out, and acquire special stomata, with which it was possible to regulate evaporation and absorb the substances necessary for life.

Cuchsonia, which is a thin green stems not exceeding five centimeters in height, was considered one of the most developed plants. But the Earth's atmosphere and its inhabitants were rapidly changing, and the most ancient representative of the flora was losing ground more and more. At the moment, the plant is considered extinct.

Photo: stihi.ru

The remains of the nematothallus do not even remotely resemble plants - they look more like shapeless black spots. But despite the strange appearance, the development of this plant has gone far ahead of its comrades in its habitat. The fact is that the cuticle of the nematothallus is already more similar to the parts available in existing plants - it consisted of formations resembling modern cells, which is why it was called pseudocellular. It should be noted that in other species, this shell looked just like a continuous film.

Nematotallus gave a lot of food for thought the scientific world... Some scientists attributed it to red algae, others were inclined to believe that they had a lichen in front of them. And until now, the mystery of this ancient organism has not been solved.

Photo: amgpgu.ru

Rinia and almost all other ancient plants with a vascular structure are classified as rhinophytes. Representatives of this group have not grown on Earth for a long time. However, this fact does not at all prevent scientists from studying the data of living things that once dominated land - many fossils found in many parts of the planet allow us to judge how about appearance, and about the structure of such plants.

Riniophytes have several important features, which allow us to assert: these living creatures are completely different from their descendants. Firstly, their stem was not covered with soft bark: scale-like processes grew on it. Secondly, rhinophytes reproduced exclusively with the help of spores, which were formed in special organs called sporangia.

But the most important difference is that these plants lacked a root system as such. Instead, there were root formations covered with "hairs" - rhizoids, with the help of which the rhinia absorbed water and substances necessary for life.

Photo: bio.1september.ru

This plant was recently considered a representative of the animal world. The fact is that its remains - small, rounded - were originally mistaken for eggs of frogs or fish, algae, or even eggs of long-extinct crustaceans. The controversy of the parks found in 1891 put an end to delusions.

The plant lived on our planet about 400 million years ago. This time refers to the beginning of the Devonian period.

Photo: bio.1september.ru

The remains of pachytheca, as well as the found fossils of the park, are balls small size (the largest found has a diameter of 7 millimeters). Little is known about this plant: scientists were able to establish only the fact that it consisted of tubes arranged radially and converging in the center, where the nucleus was located.

This plant is a dead-end branch in the development of flora, in fact, like parks and rhinia. It was not possible to establish for certain what was the impetus for their occurrence, and why they became extinct. The only reason, according to scientists, is the development of vascular plants, which simply ousted their less developed relatives.

The plants that got out on land chose a completely different path of development. It was thanks to them that the animal world was born and, accordingly, an intelligent form of life - man - appeared. And who knows what our planet would look like now, if the Rynias, parks and cuxons did not decide to develop the land? ..

That's all for us... We are very glad that you looked at our site and spent a little time to enrich with new knowledge.

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Plants are an important and ancient link in the history of our planet. The first plants witnessed significant changes in climate, they existed long before the appearance of man himself.
Plants are unique, they carry many functions to support life on Earth:

• accumulate huge reserves of valuable organic matter and chemical energy,
• emit oxygen, protect against ultraviolet radiation,
• reduce the amount of carbon dioxide,
• take part in the cycle of mineral and organic matter,
• plants directly affect climate and temperature,
• vegetation participates in the formation of soils, prevents erosion,
• maintain a water regime.

The primary source of oxygen on our planet is blue-green algae. These are bacteria that, along with higher plants, have the ability to photosynthesize, they survived all their ancestors and existed when there was no one else. They are found everywhere: in fresh waters, in salty seas, on land, and they feel great even in the most extreme conditions.

Selaginella is recognized as the oldest deciduous plants on earth, with a history of about a hundred million years. "Carpet fern" reproduces by spores, it is the only representative of the lyre, an ancient group of plants common before our era. These plants are up to 10 cm high and look like ferns and mosses. They are widely used in home floriculture for their interesting appearance.

Ginkgo is a relict plant, many call it "living fossil". This oldest species gymnosperms have been preserved since the Ice Age. In their natural habitat, these trees grow up to 40 meters with a trunk diameter of up to 4 meters. The life span is about 2000 thousand years. This plant has unique healing properties: leaves contain many biologically active compounds (acids, vitamins, oils, minerals). They actively affect the human body, have a healing effect.

The oldest living plant on Earth is the "old Tikko" tree. According to scientists, the tree is more than 9550 thousand years old. "Old Tikko" is an ordinary spruce, it has the status of the oldest today existing tree... Spruce grows in the province of Dalarna in Fulufjellet National Park, Sweden. Scientists have determined that the tree survived through the process of "cloning", with the old root system, the tree trunk is only 600 years old.

Another oldest spruce grows in Herjedalen, Sweden and is called Old Rasmus. The age of this plant is about 9500 thousand years.

The oldest non-coniferous tree is considered to be the "Forest Patriarch", which grows in Brazil. Its approximate age is about 3000 thousand years. Now it is under protection, because grows in the active felling area.

The oldest ficus grows in Sri Lanka. Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi was planted in 288 BC. For all Buddhists in the world, this tree is sacred and is a place of pilgrimage, because it is believed that the tree was grown from a scion that the Buddha planted.

The oldest olive "Cormac tree" grows on the island of Sardinia in Italy. This plant is about 3000 years old.

The plant, which was listed in the Guinness Book for a trunk circumference of more than 60 meters, "Chestnut of a Hundred Horses", which is 3000 years old. It grows in Sicily.

Fitzroy cypress is an ancient representative of the Fitzroy family, whose age is 2600 thousand years. Previously, this species was distributed in South America and Patagonia. The current representative of the genus grows in the territory of the Argentine National Park. The tree is 55 meters high and has a trunk diameter of 2.5 meters. Its age is 2600 thousand years.

The tallest plant is the General Sherman tree, 85 meters high, living in California National Park. Its age is over 2500 years, and its weight is about 2000 thousand tons.

Unfortunately, many ancient plants have not survived to this day, many have not survived due to natural reasons. Some of them were felled for safety reasons, many were poached.
But thanks to the surviving centenarians, we can learn the history of the development of the Earth, trace how the living conditions on our planet have changed.