The longestlived organisms are plants. For example, one bristlecone pine tree in eastern California is forty-nine hundred years old, and some creosote bushes, also in California, are estimated to be about twelve thousand years old. People have long recognized this variation in plant longevity, but the understanding of plant life spans improved greatly after research during the 1960's.
Types of Life Spans
The life span of an individual plant depends upon two factors.
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Monocarpic Plants
Monocarpic plants have a general life history that involves four separate stages: germination, vegetative growth, reproduction, and death.
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Polycarpic and Paucicarpic Plants
Paucicarpic and polycarpic plants normally reproduce more than once before they die.
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Potential and Real Life Spans
There have not been many studies of the longevity of most polycarpic plant species.
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