Old Tjikko

Old Tjikko
Old Tjikko
Location map of Old Tjikko
Species	Norway spruce (Picea abies)
Location	Fulufjället mountain, Dalarna, Sweden
Coordinates	61°38′22″N 12°40′35″E / 61.63931°N 12.67633°E / 61.63931; 12.67633
Height	5 m (16 ft 5 in)
Date seeded	c. 7550 BC

Old Tjikko is an approximately 9566 year-old Norway spruce, located on Fulufjället Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. Old Tjikko originally gained fame as the "world's oldest tree".^[1] Old Tjikko is, however, a clonal tree that has regenerated new trunks, branches and roots over millennia rather than an individual tree of great age. Old Tjikko is recognized as the oldest living Picea abies and the fourth-oldest known clonal tree.

The age of the tree was determined by carbon dating of genetically matched plant material collected from under the tree, as dendrochronology does not work for clonal trees. The trunk itself is estimated to be only a few centuries old, but the plant has survived for much longer due to a process known as layering (when a branch comes in contact with the ground, it sprouts a new root), or vegetative cloning (when the trunk dies but the root system is still alive, it may sprout a new trunk).