How Many Years Can a Tree Live? A Detailed Look at Tree Lifespans

Trees are plants with woody trunks and branches, mainly composed of roots, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Unlike grass, trees live longer. So, how many years can a tree live?

1. How many years can a tree live?

This depends on what kind of tree it is. Different trees can live for different lengths of time, but most trees can live for more than a hundred years, and some can live for several hundred to a thousand years. The longest-lived tree in the world is a bristlecone pine named Methuselah growing in California, USA, with an age of 6,400 years; a dragon tree growing on the island of Gran Canaria in western Africa has already lived for more than 8,000 years, but unfortunately it was destroyed by a windstorm in 1868.

2. Which trees symbolize longevity?

1. Pine: In traditional Chinese culture, the pine symbolizes longevity. If an elderly person has a birthday, the younger generation will wish them “may your happiness be as boundless as the East Sea and your life as long as the evergreen pine of the Southern Mountain”, meaning they wish the elderly person health and longevity.

2. Cypress: The cypress is a symbol of longevity and immortality. The “Huangling Ancient Cypress” in the Xuanyuan Temple in Huangling, Shaanxi Province, also called the “Xuanyuan Cypress”, is said to have been planted by Emperor Xuanyuan himself; the tree is more than 20 m tall and 7.8 m in circumference at breast height. According to on-site investigation by professionals, it has a history of 5,000 years.

3. Spruce: In February 2014, Swedish scientists discovered a 9,500-year-old spruce on a mountain range, which can be called the “oldest in the world” tree, and it is still continuing to grow.

4. Ginkgo: The ginkgo tree can live for several thousand years. Ginkgos cultivated in various places in China include old trees that are several hundred or more than a thousand years old. And a ginkgo tree in Dinglin Temple on Fulai Mountain in Ju County, Shandong Province, is 24.7 m tall and 15.7 m in circumference, and already has a tree age of 4,000 years. It is the oldest ginkgo tree in the world and has been listed in the “World Records” and the Guinness Book of World Records.