Wiktionary
n. Any of a small number of different small, slow-growing pine trees found in the western United States, of (taxlink Pinus subg. Ducampopinus subgenus noshow=1), (taxlink Pinus sect. Balfourianae section noshow=1), some of which are over 4,000 years old.
WordNet
n. small slow-growing upland pine of western United States (Rocky Mountains) having dense branches with fissured rust-brown bark and short needles in bunches of 5 and thorn-tipped cone scales; among the oldest living things some over 4500 years old [syn: Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata]
Wikipedia
A bristlecone pine is one of three species of pine trees (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is among the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The oldest Pinus longaeva is more than 5,000 years old, making it the oldest known individual of any species.
Despite their potential age and low reproductive rate, bristlecone pines, particularly Pinus longaeva, are usually a first-succession species, tending to occupy new open ground. They generally compete poorly in less-than-harsh environments, making them hard to cultivate. In gardens, they succumb quickly to root rot. They do very well, however, where most other plants cannot even grow, such as in rocky dolomitic soils in areas with virtually no rainfall.
Bristlecone pines grow in scattered subalpine groves at high altitude in arid regions of the Western United States. The name comes from the prickles on the female cones.
Usage examples of "bristlecone pine".
Slowly, he took in what lay before him, sensing a faint green that permeated the ancient bristlecone pine on the far side of the open space, a tree gnarled and seemingly dwarfed by the taller firs and pines of the forest, yet with a depth and presence that made the other ancient evergreen monarchs less than shadows.
The longest-living things are bristlecone pine trees, at 4,700 years and still counting.
It is a tree called the Bristlecone Pine that grows upon the slopes of Wheeler Peak in Nevada, U.
The bristlecone pine, which seems to survive anything, outlasts the others.
The breath I took then had a thousand flavors: Nepalese snow, Brazilian rainforest, Antarctic ice, Sahara sand, stone used to build an Indian temple a thousand years ago, needles from a bristlecone pine -- each odor tagged so that I knew it without having ever tasted it before.
He reminded Tenny of the ancient bristlecone pine trees out in the high desert: so old that nobody knew their true age, gnarled and weathered, yet still vital and clinging to life.