Oldest Living Tree

HUON PINE

How long does it live?

The Huon pine is Australia’s oldest living tree and is one of the oldest living organisms on earth. Individuals have been known to reach an age of 3,000 years. Fossil records from a tree found in the south-west of Tasmania were dated at 3,462 years. (Carder A., 1995). Only the bristle-cone pine of North America exceeds it in age.

Growth rate and reproduction

The Huon pine grows at the incredibly slow rate of  between 0.3 – 2 mm per year in diameter. Despite such slow growth the tree may attain heights of 40 m and  commonly reaches 20 m to 25 m in height. The foliage of  the Huon pine consists of tiny scales closely pressed to  the stalk.

Huon pines produce pollen and seeds from small cones  that are about 3 mm long. Male and female cones are  produced on separate trees. A small number of trees  produce both male and female cones, though this is quite rare.

Reproduction occurs in ‘mast years’. Every 5 – 7 years  a mass seeding occurs. Seeds are dispersed a short distance around the tree except where they land in  water and are transported downstream. Huon pines  also reproduce vegetatively. They do this by layering. Tree  branches reaching the ground start to root and establish themselves as a new tree, which eventually breaks away from the parent. Branches breaking off trees can also take root.

In this way populations such as a forest stand at Mt Read, which have no female trees, continue to survive. It is believed that the Mt Read stand has been regenerating in the absence of female trees for more than 10,000 years, although no individual trees are more than 1,500 years old.

Where does it grow?

Huon pines are found in the west and southwest of Tasmania where they grow among river-bank rainforest and also in a few subalpine lake shore forests. They are usually killed by fire and are drought sensitive, so are restricted to cool, wet areas.

Huon pines are often associated with rainforest species such as myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii), leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) and sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum).

Some of the most accessible sites to see Huon pines are: the Tahune Forest Reserve near Geeveston on the Picton River; the Arthur-Pieman River State Reserve near Corinna; the Teepookana Forest Reserve; the heritage landing on the Gordon River on the west coast; and near Newall Creek on the Mount Jukes Road south of Queenstown.