slgwv's photos with the keyword: bristlecone pine

Pinus longaeva . Reputedly the oldest living things on the planet, with some individuals having documented ages >5000 years. The oldest trees look as gnarly as this, or more, with lots of dead, bleached limbs and only patches of living bark. It turns out that trees in more favorable locations don't live as long, because their heartwood grows faster, and therefore is not as dense and more susceptible to decay! The dense short needles along the twigs giving a "bottlebrush" appearance is characteristic. The thin limbs will even droop when long enough. Great Basin National Park, Nevada, in the cirque below Wheeler Peak. The elevation here is ~10K feet.