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Old Tjikko looks like an ordinary small spruce on a Swedish mountainside. Its root system has been dated to around 9,550 years old — it has been regrowing its own trunk since the end of the last ice age.

Old Tjikko, Fulufjället, Sweden

NatureScience

Why it matters

The idea in context

The visible tree is only a few hundred years old; the organism beneath it is not. Norway spruce can clone itself by layering, where a branch touching the ground takes root and becomes a new trunk from the same genetic individual. Radiocarbon dating of the root material gave the extraordinary age. It survived the ice age as a low shrub and only grew upright as the climate warmed — a living thing that has been quietly present through the whole of human civilisation.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Old Tjikko, bir İsveç dağ yamacında sıradan küçük bir ladine benziyor. Kök sistemi yaklaşık 9.550 yaşında tarihlendi — son buzul çağının sonundan beri kendi gövdesini yeniden büyütüyor.
Old Tjikko, Fulufjället, İsveç

Görünen ağaç yalnızca birkaç yüz yaşında; altındaki organizma değil. Norveç ladini, yere değen bir dalın kök salıp aynı genetik bireyden yeni bir gövde olmasıyla, daldırma yoluyla kendini klonlayabilir. Kök malzemesinin radyokarbon tarihlemesi bu olağanüstü yaşı verdi. Buzul çağını alçak bir çalı olarak atlattı ve ancak iklim ısındıkça dik büyüdü — insan uygarlığının tamamı boyunca sessizce var olmuş bir canlı.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Background reading: Old TjikkoAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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