THE OLDEST KNOWN TREE. 

 By Anstruther Davidson, C. M., M. D. 



This may seem a presumptuous title, as fossil trees in 

 grreat variety have been unearthed from strata deposited mil- 

 lions of years ago, but the tree that forms the subject of this 

 sketch is orobably the oldest tree yet discovered in which the 

 wood and bark are as well preserved as if the tree had just 

 been felled. 



In the course of the excavations now being- carried on in 

 the famous Rrea beds near Los Angeles a tree was uncovered 

 standing upright ; in its original position, with a perfect 

 root svstem attached. 



The tree at base shows a solid trunk 52 inches in length, 

 then forks into 2 large, nearly equal branches, one about 11 

 feet long, the other 8 feet, at which points both were appar- 

 ently broken ofif. The main trunk has a girth of 52 inches. 

 The longer branch was first encountered at about 4 feet from 

 the surface. Around the tree trunk from tip to base there 

 were removed dozens of skulls, and other remains of Saber- 

 toothed Tiger, Camel, Elephant, Sloth, &c. 



On removal of the tree, the roots of which spread 

 laterally into the solid asphalt, the remains of the animals 

 mentioned above were found as numerous as ever beneath 

 it. The excavations have now reached a depth of 6 feet 

 below the tree root, but have not reached the clay that 

 naturally underlies the asphalt. The upturned root exposed 

 a thin layer of loam in which the tree probably took root, 

 and once established it seems to have flourished for many 

 years, until it succumbed to age or the overflowing of the 

 liquid asphalt. A lateral branch about 3 inches in diameter 

 was removed for examination. This branch had been broken 

 ofif some time before the tree was submerged, as the bur- 

 rows made by some insect lavge were quite apparent. 



A section of the tree forwarded to the Smithsonian In- 

 stitute was identified as Cupressus Macnabiana Murray. 

 This tree is at present a native of Northern California. Jep- 

 son in "Silva of California" gives its range from "Napa to 

 .Shasta Co., then East to the Northern Sierras and West to 

 the Coast Range ; west of Shasta quite a large grove exists." 

 Sudworth in "Trees of Pacific Coast" says "It ranges from 

 1100 to 5000 feet under climatic conditions of rainfall that 

 varies from 13 to 62 inches per annum. The temperature 

 varies from 100 degrees in summer to nearly zero in winter. 

 Trees 5 to 8 inches in diameter show in rings of growth 

 an age of 80 to 125 years. This tree probably does not 

 live more than 200 or 300 years." Mr. Herbert J. Goudge 

 polished a section of the branch removed and found the 



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