Ed, That is neat. An article I found on it states the oldest living bush here is perhaps 130 or so years old even though the colony itself dates back 13,000 years. When fires burn back the thicket, the roots survive. I wonder how old they are? Can roots be dated?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18324-ancient-clone-saw-out-the-last-ice-age.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34574720/ns/technology_and_science-science/ http://www.ourwindowonnature.com/2007/05/06/the-oldest-living-tree-is-a-bush/ The Creosote bush of the desert southwest is another very old clone that grows in rings. Another huge clonal colony that may be 80,000 years old is the Pando Aspen. JP On Jan 10, 9:30 am, "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> wrote: > WNTS, ENTS, > > I saw this report on a California scrub oak ( Quercus palmeri) that might be > of interest to all of you: > > In California, a Scrub Oak Is an Old Pro at Cloning > By HENRY FOUNTAIN > Published: January 4, 2010 > > In Southern California, a place where most everything is new, botanists have > discovered something very old: a scrub oak that has been cloning itself for > at least 13,000 years. > > The oak, a low thicket of about 70 stem clusters that covers 2,000 square > feet in a gulch in the Jurupa Hills of Riverside County, cannot reproduce by > sexual means. Instead it reproduces vegetatively, after a fire, with new > sprouts growing from the base of burned stems. That means all the plant > tissue is genetically identical. > > Continued http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/05clone.html?ref=science > > Ed Frank > > http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/http://primalforests.ning.com/http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957
