The ancient Alerce trees

this is one of the funguses

Yesterday we went on a hike in Sendero los Alerces. It’s a hiking trail that is part of Patagonia’s Pumalin National Park. The Alerce (also known as the Patagonian cypress), is only found in the Andean rainforests of Chile and Argentina. The Alerce trees is endangered due to illegal logging. It is the second oldest living tree species on earth, many can live up to 4000 years (the oldest is the bristlecone pine). The oldest Alerce tree is called Gran Abuelo, Gran Abuelo is estimated to be over 5000 years old, possibly being the oldest living tree on earth. They grow very slowly at one millimeter in diameter a year and are able to live so long because they can fight off decay and can survive fires. These trees also have mycorrhizal relationships with fungi which lets the tree absorb water and essential nutrients, in return the tree gives the fungi carbohydrates which is basically sugar produced by photosynthesis since the fungi cannot produce its own food. After seeing these forests of Alerce trees, we fished in a river for 4 inch wild trout. This was one day in Patagonia and I am definitely ready to leave and go to Hawaii or the Amazon again.