Two Tree Truths

Skeletal Silhouettes, Blackmer Trail - December 23, 2023

The gentle autumn breeze stirring aspen-gold and maple-red leaves. The smell of evergreen filling your nose, sharp in the cold and snow. The gentle swaying branches of a willow, soft shade on a warm spring day. The dark summer green of cottonwoods along the river, framed by deeper-than-blue summer sky. 

Trees provide shade, shelter, solace. They are homes for myriad living creatures. They benefit our climate by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in their wood and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. All of this is probably not news to you. 

Here are two truths you may not have known:

Tree = True
Tracing the etymology of tree to words like treow and deru, tree and true have the same root, with associations of firm, steadfast, and trust. A tree was dependable, grew straight, and could be counted upon - a true friend.
Watch this short Ted-Ed Video: The True Story of True to learn more.

Trees are among the oldest living organisms on earth. 
In the White Mountains of California, there are two bristlecone pines - Methuselah is approximately 4850 years old, and her unnamed neighbor is 5067 years old. In Fishlake National Forest, Utah, there is an aspen grove, with one root system, known as a pando, that is thought to be approximately 80,000 years old. The unnamed bristlecone takes the prize because its birthdays are verified; the pando’s age is approximated using various methods. You can read this BBC Article: The Oldest Living Thing On Earth to learn more. I especially enjoyed how the article put the age of the trees into context: the bristlecone was putting down roots before the Ancient Egyptians put up the pyramids. 

Originally published November 2022