Advertisement Scientist finds rare, ancient tree in North Carolina swamp Professor David Stahle says bald cypress at least 2,624 years old Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A University of Arkansas professor/researcher has documented a group ancient trees that are among the oldest in the world -- and they are about an hour’s drive from Wilmington, North Carolina.David Stahle, distinguished professor of geoscience, has now identified the oldest known bald cypress in the world -- and the fifth-oldest type of tree overall. He says it is at least 2,624 years old. The bald cypress is on Black River property purchased by the Nature Conservancy.Stahle led a group of media members and other interested parties on a paddling trip to the ancient cypress stand Thursday morning.Stahle along with colleagues from the university's Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium and other conservation groups, first discovered the trees in 2017, Science Daily reported.Science Daily reported that the ancient trees are part of an intact ecosystem spanning most of the 65-mile length of the Black River. The trees are scientifically valuable for reconstructing ancient climate conditions. The oldest trees extend the climate record in the southeast United States by 900 years. They show evidence of droughts and flooding during colonial and precolonial times that exceed any measured in modern times, experts say.Less than 1% of original bald cypress forests survived the heavy logging of the past.The Black River bald cypress have been around since six centuries before the birth of Jesus. For the newest study, researchers used nondestructive core samples from 110 trees found in a section of the wetland forest they had not previously visited, Science Daily reported. "The area of old growth bald cypress was 10 times larger than I realized," Stahle said. "We think there are older trees out there still."Stahle first visited the Black River area in the 1980′s with retired biologist Julie Moore, and both knew almost immediately they had found something special.“At the time, I figured there’s 1,000-year-old trees all around you here, which is extraordinarily rare anywhere but California, and Chile, too,” Stahle said. "It’s very rare worldwide to find trees that are over 1,000 years old.Before embarking on the trip downstream Thursday, Moore recalled her first time seeing the old cypress trees. A friend of hers who worked for the Forest Service drove Moore as close to the river as an old truck would take them. Even before getting out of the truck, Moore said she saw the ancient cypress.Once they were standing at the river's edge, Moore said they stood there silently and listened to wood ducks make their way to their nest in the hollowed-out trees.“For about 15 minutes, we just stood there,” Moore said. “I’m getting goosebumps right now thinking about it. It was one of those times that you know someone is sharing something with you that’s very important to them, and as it turns out, it’s a very important place.”Stahle said the area of bald cypress is 10 times larger than he originally thought. And he said there may be even older trees out there.