King Clone – The Oldest Living Thing on Earth

It is believed that King Clone is the oldest creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert, dating as far back as 11,700 years. Frank Vasek, a professor at the University of California, claims to have discovered King Clone and has projected their ages. The King Clone Ring is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. The single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentates reaches up to 67 feet in diameter, although the average diameter is 45 feet.

After Vasek hypothesized that the creosote ring was, in fact, one organism, a graduate student working in Vasek’s lab, documented that plants within a ring had more similar characteristics than those from other plant clusters. The King Clone resides on mostly unprotected lands because most people do not care and drive over them with all-terrain vehicles.

Due to its natural habitats, the creosote bush may lose some of these waxy, resinous leaves during extreme droughts but never loses them all. Therefore, these leaves are pungent after rain and have been used as antiseptics and emetics by native peoples. Its foliage provides refuge for crickets, grasshoppers, and praying mantids.

The brainy Vasek has used two methods to estimate the age of the ring. The first method involves counting rings and measuring the distance of annual growth, while the second method uses radiocarbon dating on pieces of wood found in the center of the ring and measuring their distance from each other and living bushes.

Therefore, the dating methods come up with similar results. The Creosote Bush is the most characteristic feature of North America’s hot deserts that tolerates arid conditions simply because of its toughness. It competes belligerently with other plants for water and frequently wins because of its prevalence in many arid locations.

Furthermore, the King Clone Ring is on restricted-access public land in the central Mojave Desert, about 0.6 miles north of California Route 247 on Bessemer Mine Road, near the towns of Lucerne Valley and Landers. It is situated within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley.

Well, if you want to grow this bush with seeds, then place a number of seed capsules in a shallow pan covered with boiling water. So let them soak overnight. After that, place a few seed capsules in a pot with soil and start to water, so thin out the superfluous seedlings and plant.

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