Kingdom:  Plantae

Phylum: Coniferophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Order: Pinales

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Pinus

Species: longaeva

Pinus longaeva, commonly known as the bristlecone pine, is often regarded as the oldest known tree species in the world. The areas in which they grow are in the Western parts of the United States, mostly in the regions of California, Nevada and Utah. Pinus longaeva grows in arid, mountanious area, often referred to as the harsh environment. However, the wood of the pine is very dense, and each of the trees are scattered over areas, maintaining comfortable spaces that reduce competetion for sources such as water among one another. Most of the pine is made of dead wood and the needles come in bundles of 5, which can live for about 20 yeas. Such factors help in energy consumption as the tree does not need to require the extra energy to produce new needles so regularly. “The male flowers, or catkins are red-purple in color. The female cones are ovoid, or egg-shaped, and dark purple to brown when mature” (blueplanetbiomes.org).

For images, classification and brief details, the folllowing link is available..!

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PILO