There’s something humbling about standing next to a tree that’s been alive longer than most civilisations.
Whether it’s sheer height, staggering width, or the kind of age that bends your sense of time, the world’s most iconic trees are living proof of nature’s resilience. Some have watched empires rise and fall, while others quietly tower over forests like guardians from another era. These 12 trees aren’t just impressive—they’re record-breaking in ways that feel almost unbelievable.
1. Methuselah – California, USA
Named after the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah is a Great Basin bristlecone pine that’s over 4,800 years old. It’s been alive since before the Egyptian pyramids were even built, growing slowly in the harsh conditions of California’s White Mountains.
Its exact location is kept secret by the US Forest Service to protect it from vandals and overenthusiastic tourists, but the fact that it’s still standing in such an exposed spot is a quiet miracle in itself. It doesn’t look grand, but its age gives it a kind of quiet authority.
2. Sarv-e Abarqu – Yazd, Iran
This ancient cypress tree, also called the Zoroastrian Sarv, is estimated to be over 4,000 years old. It’s one of Iran’s national treasures, and locals believe it was planted by Zoroaster himself or one of his followers. With its wide, weathered trunk and gnarled appearance, it feels more like a monument than a tree. People come from all over to visit it—not just for its size, but because it feels like it holds history in its roots.
3. Tāne Mahuta – Waipoua Forest, New Zealand
Meaning “Lord of the Forest” in Māori, Tāne Mahuta is the largest known living kauri tree. Estimated to be around 2,000 years old, its presence in the forest is nothing short of majestic—it stands over 50 metres tall and its trunk has a girth of more than 13 metres. It’s not just a tree—it’s a spiritual figure in Māori culture and a symbol of endurance. Visiting it isn’t just sightseeing—it’s more like entering a cathedral made entirely of bark and leaves.
4. General Sherman – California, USA
Not the tallest, not the oldest—but definitely the largest tree on Earth by volume. This giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park is estimated to weigh over 1,900 tonnes and stands nearly 84 metres tall. Its massive base is wider than most studio flats, and it’s still growing. The General Sherman doesn’t look real when you first see it—it’s like something drawn for scale in a fantasy film, but it’s very much alive.
5. Jomon Sugi – Yakushima, Japan
This mysterious cryptomeria tree is tucked away deep in the forests of Yakushima Island and is estimated to be between 2,000 and 7,000 years old. Nobody knows for sure, and honestly, part of its power comes from that mystery. To reach it, visitors have to hike for hours through misty, mossy terrain—which only adds to the sense that you’re entering sacred territory. It’s not the tallest or widest, but it might be the most spiritually eerie.
6. Árbol del Tule – Oaxaca, Mexico
This Montezuma cypress boasts the thickest tree trunk in the world—over 11 metres in diameter. It’s so wide that local legends once claimed it was made up of multiple trees fused together (it’s not—it’s just that massive). Estimated to be around 1,500 years old, it’s found right in the middle of the town of Santa María del Tule, and has become a symbol of the region. It’s big enough to have its own personality—and probably a few secrets.
7. Llangernyw Yew – Conwy, Wales
Hidden in a small churchyard in North Wales, this ancient yew tree is thought to be somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. That makes it one of the oldest living things not just in Britain, but anywhere in Europe. What’s even stranger is that it’s not particularly famous outside the area. It’s quiet, almost modest—an ancient being living in plain sight, just behind a church wall, as if it hasn’t watched centuries pass right under its branches.
8. The Senator – Florida, USA (RIP)
Once one of the oldest and tallest bald cypress trees in the world, The Senator was estimated to be over 3,500 years old before it was sadly destroyed in a fire in 2012. It stood at 38 metres tall and was a landmark in Longwood, Florida. Even though it’s no longer standing, its remains are preserved and commemorated in the local park. It’s a reminder that even the oldest, most iconic trees are still vulnerable, and worth protecting while they’re here.
9. Patriarca da Floresta – Brazil
This enormous jequitibá tree lives in the middle of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and is one of the largest trees in South America. It’s estimated to be around 3,000 years old and towers over the rainforest at over 50 metres tall. Its name translates to “Patriarch of the Forest,” and it absolutely lives up to it. Locals consider it sacred, and the tree feels almost mythical in size and presence—like it could’ve been standing since before the rainforest knew it was a rainforest.
10. The Tree of Life – Bahrain
This tree is baffling. It’s a mesquite tree that’s been growing alone in the middle of the Bahraini desert for over 400 years—without any visible water source. It stands in total isolation, defying logic and survival odds. Scientists believe its roots tap into deep underground reserves, but no one’s ever really proven it. In a place where temperatures soar and rainfall is scarce, this tree just… keeps going. No wonder it’s considered almost magical by locals.
11. Old Tjikko – Fulufjället Mountain, Sweden
This unassuming-looking spruce might not catch your eye at first glance—but its roots are over 9,500 years old, making it the oldest known clonal tree system in the world. The trunk dies and regrows, but the genetic material has remained for millennia.
It’s proof that survival doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it’s quiet, slow, and happens just below the surface. Old Tjikko has endured through ice ages and climate shifts, and it’s still standing on a windy Swedish mountain like it always has.