Oldest Living Thing

Pine (tree), a common name for a medium-size family of trees, mostly evergreen, of widespread distribution in the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, and for its representative genus. The family, which contains about 210 species placed in 10 genera, has enormous economic importance as a source of timber and pulpwood, among other products. Members of the family characteristically have helically arranged needlelike leaves. In several genera—for example, pine, cedar, and larch—the leaves are borne in clusters that are actually short branches, or spurs, on which the leaves are arranged in tight helices. The members of the pine family have separate female and male cones; the former produce the seeds, and the latter, the pollen. Male and female cones are produced on the same plant; the seed-bearing cones are woody when mature; the seeds are winged. The family is distinguished from other conifers on the basis of its seed cones. Each of the flattened scales on which the seeds are borne is underlaid by a distinct, sterile bract (reduced leaf) that is usually shorter than the scale. The seed cones are drooping in all members of the family except the fir and a small genus confined to South China and Southeast Asia. All members of the family have evergreen leaves except the golden larch and the larch. The pine genus itself is the largest in the family, with about 110 species, about 35 of which are in North America. Pines grow in a wide range of habitats, from sea level to altitudes of 4000 m (13,000 ft) and are distinguished from other members of the family by the leaves, which are in bundles. Each bundle contains a specific number of leaves, depending on the species, with a sheath of short, scale like leaves at the base. Pines are divided into two groups, based on the scale leaves and other characteristics. The soft pines have leaves in bundles of five, and the scale leaves fall away from mature leaf bundles. Their wood is soft and has a coarse grain. Well-known soft pines are the eastern white pine, of northeastern North America; piñon pine, of the Southwest, the seeds of which are edible; bristlecone pine, the Rocky Mountain species; and the Great Basin bristlecone, which can live more than 5000 years and is the oldest known living thing on the planet. Through analysis of bristlecone rings, scientists can tell what the climate was more than 10,000 years ago. The hard pines have leaves in clusters of two or three, and the scale leaves persist in mature clusters. The wood is usually hard, with a close grain. Well-known species include lodgepole pine, extending from Alaska to Baja California; longleaf pine, of the southeastern coastal plain; and ponderosa pine, of the American West. Both pine groups are economically important for their timber, pulp, tar, and turpentine and for their use as ornamentals. Members of a pine family thought to be extinct for 50 million years were discovered in a rain forest near Sydney, Australia, in 1994. Other members of the pine family include Douglas fir, hemlock, and spruce.