Aging of a peach tree

[jujubemulberry]

could easily be a world record. And you say there are other centenarian peach trees in riverside and san bernardino?
quite impressive

[Richard]

could easily be a world record.

There are 200-300 yearold trees in China, where many a horticultural study has been conducted in search of breeding stock. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are also centurian trees in Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc.

The trees I know of in the “Inland Empire” are mainly left over from deciduous fruit orchards that were in Highland, south Riverside, Yucaipa; plus some old properties in Mentone, Redlands, and Riverside.

[jujubemulberry]

i hope it is true Richard

[scottfsmith]

Here is a mention of a supposed 1000-year old tree… 30-foot circumference!

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/peach/afg_columns/chinese_peaches_past_and_present.html

[Richard]

30-foot circumference!

If the trunk is round, the diameter would be almost 10 feet!

[jujubemulberry]

thanks! now on a quest to find at least one picture, as can’t believe it hasn’t been featured by nat geo… Found this, and was hoping it is more trunk than rock.

The Peach Tree Grows In A Huge Stone Stock Image - Image of tibet, clouds:...

[scottfsmith]

Check out this one! It is in Tibet. Compare to the person and it must be 6’ in diameter.

It is from this news story

http://www.vtibet.com/en/news_1746/focus/201503/t20150324_287035.html

Here is another picture showing many old peaches with huge trunks. See the horse for perspective.

[jujubemulberry]

yeah i just saw that too, i hope it’s not the wild-type as mentioned below, one being 600 +yrs old.

http://english.chinatibetnews.com/wh/News/201611/t20161114_1543254.html

[Richard]

i hope it’s not the wild-type

Why?

[jujubemulberry]

palatability

[jujubemulberry]

those seemingly are prunus mira’s or prunus kansuensis, and not the domesticated persica’s.
Awesome pix regardless, those trees are absolutely gorgeous!

https://books.google.com/books?id=xLW3mKQbcUUC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=prunus+mira+trees+tibet&source=bl&ots=_xHynwPevH&sig=kx1f453JAxbWfTHsQE3hEx2WqB0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM_66mlObQAhUrsFQKHUvWCG8Q6AEISDAL#v=onepage&q=prunus%20mira%20trees%20tibet&f=false

[scottfsmith]

Good catch, it looks like they are Tibetan peach which is prunus mira Koehne. This peach is very closely related to the domestic peach so its still probably good data on the possibilities of longevity for prunus persica but is not a direct hit. I’m not sure why the Clemson link didn’t mention it was a Tibetan peach and not a regular peach.

[jujubemulberry]

am actually still hoping that there might be long-lived persica’s in tibet, or anywhere.

India seems to have mira’s as well at the other side of the hump. Below says it is a natural cross between almond and peach, which i find intriguing. Fruits are made into pickles whereas seeds are eaten as nuts, which is quite promising… Its 1000 yr possible lifespan and resistance to mildew must be tapped. Hopefully pollen is viable for backcrossing to persica’s and almonds just to extend longevity and disease/pest-resistance. Would be awesome to have a jay-fleshed peach with marcona almond seeds, on a centennial tree! If the claim to dulcis x persica cross is true,it is an extreme evidence of hybrid vigor, since persica’s decline rather quickly, and almonds, although relatively long-lived, don’t even come close to any of the postcard-perfect mira’s.

p4_20_Mayte_Espiau.pdf

hopefully zaiger gets lucky with this accession.
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?1564755