Life Lessons from a Bristlecone

Finally, the post I've been promising for a long time.  I give you, life lessons from a bristlecone.

 

Be Content With Your Natural Beauty

 

Bristlecones are the oldest living trees in the world and most look every day their 4,000 plus years.  Most trees grow only 20-40 ft in height.  Needles are in clusters of five, very dense, and can remain on the branch 30-40 years. (Most conifers drop their needles every year or every three years.) 

When the roots die, sections of trunk and branches above them also die. As dead strips of trunk dry out, the bark sloughs off, revealing the bare wood. Over the centuries, as the roots continue to die, the trunk may be made up only of one or two small strips of living bark connecting the living roots to living limbs.

Let Adversity Make You Stronger

Bristlecones are most often found between 10,000 and 11,000 feet; that's two miles above sea level. At this elevation, it's often winter 9-10 months out of the year. Winds at this elevation can easily reach hurricane force. They survive with shallow soil, high winds, long and cold winters, buried in snow, and a bare minimum of moisture.Bristlecones found at lower elevations and in better growing conditions and longer growing seasons don't live as long as their relatives at the higher elevations.

Go Out On a Limb

There are many survival theories for these trees. The wood is extremely resinous and very dense. The tree is rock solid, helping it to withstand the wind and making it hard to burn. A 10 inch strip of wood with bark can sustain a large crown of needles. 

Many destructive insects can't function at such high elevations. The trees themselves are more widely spread (no dog-hair forests here) which results in less competition for scarce resources. Less vegetation also means fewer fires entering the stand from outside.

Remember Your Roots

Core samples reveal the tree rings and are used as a method of measuring time and past environmental conditions (rainfall, air and soil temps, wind, length of growing season).  Even dead trees are useful. Analysis of living bristlecone and fragments of wood from dead trees has enabled inferences to extend 10,000 years into the past.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

The bristlecone can reproduce successfully by seed despite the rough environment. The Clark's nutcracker (Jay family) makes it home among the britslecones and helps distribute the seeds. If a seed is buried at least 1 inch deep, the chance of surviving dramatically increases.The cones take two seasons to mature. The immature cones are a deep purple color, using this dark coloration to absorb more heat from the sun to mature the cone. 

We can all learn lessons from these marvelous trees!

 

Where would I be without my friends?