How old is the tree can really be determined in several ways. This can be done both by the stump of a sawn plant, and by the external indicators of a living plant culture. The method for determining pine maturity is described in the article.

Determination of age by rings

The easiest way to find out how old a tree is, everyone has known since childhood - you need to calculate the number of annual rings or concentric circles on the stump saw. It is believed that one such circle the plant grows in one year of life.To count years, it is necessary to count from the core of a dark color to the cortex. To accurately determine the age, add 5 to the sum of the rings. If the tree is young, then the increase should be 3-4.

If you look closely at the circles, you will notice that they are different in thickness and color. It depends on the weather conditions observed in different years. By the differences in the circles, you can determine which year it was - warm, cold, rainy, arid, etc. The widest rings can be seen on young specimens.

Important! To make the rings appear more clearly, the saw cut must be cleaned with sandpaper and moistened with water.

How to determine by appearance without cutting

To find out how old a pine tree is, it is possible during its lifetime, without causing damage to it. This can be easily done in several ways. For example, measure the trunk in diameter and its height, and then make certain calculations. You can also count the number of whorls.

Trunk diameter

In order to use this method, it is necessary to carry out the following steps:

1. Measure the girth of the trunk with a tape measure, retreating 1.4 m from the ground.
2. Determine the diameter by the formula: barrel thickness in cm divided by 3.14.
3. Divide the diameter by the annual growth rate of the tree circumference. In pine, it is 0.7.

Did you know? Pine is reckoned among long-lived trees. The oldest plant known to scientists dates back 4842 years and is called Metusela.

To make it more clear, imagine that the circumference of the tree trunk, whose age must be calculated, is 152 cm. Accordingly, the diameter will be 152: 3.14 = 48.4 cm. Next, you need to divide the diameter by annual growth: 48.4: 0 , 7 = 69. This will be the approximate age of the pine.

By the whorls

Whorls are called shoots that grow fan-shaped and are formed annually. They are located at approximately the same height. If you count their number, you can roughly determine how old the plant is.

Important! When calculating whorls, you should carefully inspect the trunk so as not to miss the knots.

There are 2 ways to count:

1. Calculate how many whorls are located above the level of a person’s chest and add one to the sum. Such an increase must be made, given the top of the plant.
2. Count the total number of whorls on the tree, starting from the bottom of a smooth trunk, and add the resulting number to the number 3. The increase takes into account the fact that pine trees have whorls at the age of three.

For example, if 13 whorls were counted on a pine, it means that the tree is about 16 years old (13 +

Height

By measuring the height of the tree, it is impossible to accurately determine its age. Indeed, many factors influence the growth rate of a plant: climate, weather conditions, soil composition, place of growth, etc. Knowing how many meters the trunk of a pine has grown, you can approximately determine what its age is.

The annual growth in height of the described tree can be found in the table:

After reaching 30-50 years of age, growth rates slow down. During this period, the tree begins to grow more actively in breadth. Pine, as a rule, reaches a maximum height by 60–70 years. In total, pine can survive 150–300 years.

Along the bark

This method is very approximate. It allows you to define only a young tree or an old one. To use it, you need to know how this part of the plant looks in mature and young specimens and what differences exist.

Did you know? The tallest pine tree in the world is Lamberta. It reaches 70–80 m.

In youth, pines have a gray bark. As they grow older, it turns brownish red. The lower part is covered with long longitudinal cracks. A thick, about 10 cm thick, layer of peel is also formed below. In the upper part of the trunk, the bark has an orange-red color. It is smooth to the touch. Peeling of thin films with torn edges can be observed.

So, you can determine the age of the pine in several ways, including in appearance, without cutting down. However, they all give only approximate indicators. To find out exactly how old a tree is, perhaps only having information about the date of its planting in the ground.