could easily be a world record. And you say there are other centenarian peach trees in riverside and san bernardino?
quite impressive
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.
2 Likes
i hope it is true Richard
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
7 Likes
If the trunk is round, the diameter would be almost 10 feet! 
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.
2 Likes
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.
12 Likes
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
Why?
palatability
those seemingly are prunus mira’s or prunus kansuensis, and not the domesticated persica’s.
Awesome pix regardless, those trees are absolutely gorgeous!
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.
1 Like
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.
hopefully zaiger gets lucky with this accession.
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?1564755
1 Like
I know this is a very old post but I was interested in knowing how many years a peach tree can live. I googled and this was the only post regarding old trees. I know most live only a dozen years or so and after growing peach trees my whole life (45 yrs old now) I know this is fairly accurate. I live in Denver, Colorado right in the middle of metro Denver, right outside of downtown. I live in the house my grandparents willed to me after they passed. My grandmother grew peaches her whole life and we have a mini orchard on our 1/4 acre lot. We grow clingstone yellow and freestone white. The freestone white trees grew by themselves from growing next to 2 golden gage trees. I now have about twelve trees, a 50-50 mix of white/yellow trees. Anyway the one tree in the very back of my yard is turning 40 this year. I was 5 when my grandma and I planted it in 1981. It is about 30 feet tall - a good 20 feet taller than all the other trees and it grows HUMONGOUS grapefruit sized white flesh peaches. It looks unhealthy from the twisted bark that is crumbling but every spring it comes back as healthy as ever. I have tons of pictures of my tree and the huge fruit it grows which is even sweeter than yellow flesh as white is less acidic and has more sugar content.
9 Likes
Please take pictures!
I don’t doubt that in your punishing climate most peaches have short lives, but they are quite capable of living a half century or more, which still makes them relatively short-lived trees.
The confusion of how long they survive is probably related to their short lives in commercial orchards where they are replaced when they become gangly with unproductive centers- the donut affect.
They also need well drained soil for best longevity. In my well drained soil I have one very productive Madison peach that is pushing 30 and a cold hardy nectarine almost that old. I’ve seen much older trees at sites around me in lower NY state.
I suspect they can live longer in a Mediterranean climate.
1 Like
Definitely pics, please. If you don’t mind, you could share its scionwood to members here so we can spread the legacy of your peach.
2 Likes
Yes, her white peach may be a particularly cold-hardy variety.
I still don’t understand how peaches get enough chill hours there. It’s like there is something magical about CA.
Richard’s site is inland enough that he gets some cold nights. Even where I was raised a few miles from the coast it got cold enough to grow low chill peaches. We got multiple nights below freezing every year.