Bristlecone Pine

The Bristlecone Pine, 'Pinus aristata', is a type of pine tree that can reach an age far greater than that of any other living thing known - up to 5,000 years.It is dense in growth, the shoots set with dark, short needles, five per bundle. The cones which occasion its names are indeed tipped by slender spines or bristles. Looks aside, bristlecone pine is famous because in its arid mountain home of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, it can live for thousands of years. In cultivation it proves slow, bushy, dark and enduring of difficult sites.