A list of the oldest trees in Ontario, modern and historic
| Species | Status* | Age | Location | Notes | Source |
| Black Spruce Picea mariana | Living | 343 | North of Smooth Rock Falls | Core had 326 years at breast height (BH). Black spruce takes 17 years to reach BH under good growing conditions. For this tree, 343 years is a conservative estimate. | Vasiliauskas 2006 |
| Living | 330 | Sleeping Giant Prov. Park | Roughly 25 cm diameter | Girardin et al. In press. | |
| Hemlock Tsuga canadensis | Living | 454 | Algonquin Park | 430 year count, plus 24 years (average for Algonquin) to reach breast height. This tree was only 50 cm diameter. | Vasiliauskas 1995 |
| Living | 435 | Niagara Gorge | Aged by tree core | Kershner, 2004 | |
| Dead | 460 | Mark S. Burnham Prov. Park | 439 year count at breast height. This tree was 53 cm DBH, and was (recently) dead when cored. Photo | Henry 2005 | |
| Jack Pine Pinus banksiana | Living | 246 | Blue Lake (near Timmins) | Girardin et al. In press. | |
| Red Pine Pinus resinosa | Living | 400 | Blue Lake (near Timmins) | Roughly 65 cm DBH. Growing since 1606 | Girardin et al. In press. |
| Living | 385 | White Bear Forest, Temagami | 55 cm DBH. Core was taken at BH. | Quinby et al 1998 | |
| Dead | 500 | near Granite Lake, Kenora | This tree was cut in 1992 when a power line was put in to a set of cottages near Kenora | St. George 2006 | |
| Tamarack Larix laricina | Living | 180 | Snake Creek | 37 cm DBH. 161 year count at 1.4 m (and missed center). Older tamaracks are certainly out there. Photo | M. Henry. unpublished field notes 2017 |
| White Cedar Thuja occidentalis | Living | 1316 | Niagara Escarpment | Dwarfed cliff cedar. Germinated 688 AD. Photo | Kelly and Larson 2004, Kelly and Larson 2007, Larson 2005 |
| Dead | 1890 | Niagara Escarpment | Cliff cedar. The age of this cedar was obtained by crossdating three slices in different parts of the dead bole. | Larson 2001, Larson 2005 | |
| Living | 344 | Sleeping Giant Prov. Park | Growing in swamp forest. Photo | Girardin et al. In press. | |
| Living | 326 | Lake Abitibi Model Forest | Growing in forest on sandy soil | Lefort 2005 | |
| White Pine Pinus strobus | Living | 486** | Dividing Lake Nature Reserve | Age reported to be accurate within +/- 23 years | Guyette and Dey 1995 |
| Living | 388 | Quinn Lake, Algoma | Growing since 1603 | Arbex 1991 | |
| Historic | >500 | Swan Lake, Algonquin Park | Preserved underwater | Guyette and Cole 1999 | |
| Balsam Poplar Populus balsamifera | Living | 207 | Vasiliauskas 2005 | ||
| Beech Fagus grandifolia | Living | 204 | Backus Woods | 51 cm DBH | Larson et al. 1999 |
| Black Ash Fraxinus nigra | 319 | Lac Duparquet, Quebec | In the Quebec claybelt, east of the Ontario border. | Tardif and Bergeron 1999 | |
| Black Gum Nyssa sylvatica | Living | 580 | Niagara Falls | Actual ring count 564 years. Photo | Torenvliet 2015 |
| Living | 510 | Bowmans Archery Club Black Gum Grove, Niagara Falls | Actual ring count 498 years. Another tree in the area had 401 rings. Photo | Torenvliet 2015 | |
| Living | 407** | Backus Woods | Actual ring counts in Backus Woods were 300 years. | Mccaw 1985 | |
| Black Walnut Juglans nigra | Dead | 260 | Rondeau Provincial Park | Rings were counted from the stump of a windthrown tree | Bartlett 1958 |
| Ironwood Carpinus caroliniana | Living | 230 | Algonquin Park | Actual ring count. Diameter was less than 20 cm. | Vasiliauskas 1995 |
| Paper Birch Betula papyrifera | Living | 240 | Rainbow falls Prov. Park | Roughly 35 cm diameter. Photo | Girardin et al. In press. |
| Red Oak Quercus Rubra | Dead | 280 | Rondeau Provincial Park | Rings were counted from the stump of a windthrown tree | Bartlett 1958 |
| Shagbark Hickory Carya ovata | Dead | 250 | Rondeau Provincial Park | Rings were counted from the stump of a windthrown tree | Bartlett 1958 |
| Silver Maple Acer saccharinum | Living | 380 | Backus Woods | This was the counted age on a tree core taken from a 51 cm silver maple. | Martin and Martin 2001, Martin 2006 |
| Sugar Maple Acer saccharum | Living | 500** | Pelham | The “Comfort Maple” – The original source of this widely cited age is unconfirmed | Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority 2005 |
| Living | 460** | Peter’s Woods | Counted age of the core was 280 years. Tree was 66 cm DBH, length of core was 20 cm. Rings reported as “very narrow throughout” the core. | Martin and Martin 2001, Martin 2006 | |
| Dead | 380 | Waterloo County | The “Merlau Maple” was growing in Waterloo County from about 1610 to 1990 | www.whaton.uwaterloo.ca /waton/climate.html | |
| Living | 330 | Mark S. Burnham Provincial Park | 330-year ring count from tree core | Peterborough examiner | |
| Trembling Aspen Populus tremuloides | Dead | 213 | Lake Abitibi Model Forest | Lefort 2005 | |
| Tulip Tree Liriodendron tulipifera | Living | 245 | Backus Woods | 71cm DBH | Larson et al. 1999 |
| White Ash Fraxinus americana | Dead | 260 | Rondeau Provincial Park | Rings were counted from the stump of a windthrown tree | Bartlett 1958 |
| White Elm Ulmus americana | Dead | 267 | Bruce County | Tree was cut because of dutch elm disease | The Sauble Elm |
| White Oak Quercus alba | Living | 450** | Peter’s Woods | Counted age of the core was 330 years. Tree was 91 cm DBH, length of core was 30 cm. Rings reported as “very narrow throughout” the core. | Martin and Martin 2001, Martin 2006 |
| Historic | 560 | Hamilton area | Wilkie counted the rings of a cut stump about two metres in diameter | Wilkie 1837 | |
| Yellow Birch Betula alleghaniensis | Living | >387 | Algonquin Park | Actual ring count. Tree had heart rot beyond 387 rings. | Vasiliauskas 1995 |
| Living | (610)** | Algonquin Park | Age was corrected for heart rot from a short section of core – this age may be unreliable. | Martin and Martin 2001, Martin 2006 |
We are still actively updating this list. Please send information about confirmed ages of tree to info@ancientforest.org. Include accurate ring count from tree cores (or cross-sections of dead trees).
Sources
- Arbex Forest Development Co. Ltd. 1991. Life science resource features of selected areas containing old white and red pine (site region 4E – Ontario)
- Bartlett, C.O. 1958. A study of some deer and forest relationships in Rondeau Provincial Park. Wildlife series No. 7. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests.
- Girardin MP, Tardif JC, Flannigan MD, Bergeron Y (in press) Synoptic scale atmospheric circulation and summer drought variability of the past three centuries, boreal Canada. Journal of Climate, in press.
- Guyette, R.P. and W.G. Cole. 1999. Age characteristics of coarse woody debris (Pinus strobus) in a lake littoral zone. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 56: 496–505.
- Guyette, R.P. and D.C. Dey. 1995. Age, size and regeneration of old growth white pine at Dividing Lake Nature Reserve, Algonquin Park, Ontario. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Forest Research Institute, Sault Ste. Marie, Forest Research Report No. 131, 11p.
- Henry, M. 2005. Unpublished data.
- Kelly, P.E. and D.W. Larson. 2004. The Niagara Escarpment Ancient Tree Atlas Project; Volume 2. Unpublished Report, 54p.
- Kelly, P.E. and D.W. Larson. 1997. Effects of rock climbing on populations of presettlement eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) on cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, Canada. Conservation Biology 11: 1125-1132.
- Kelly, P.E. and D.W. Larson. 2007. The Last Stand: A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment. Natural Heritage Books. 176 pp.
- Kersher, B. 2004. Personal communication, September 16 2004.
- Larson, B.M., J.L. Riley, E.A. Snell and H.G. Godschalk. 1999. The Woodland Heritage of Southern Ontario: A Study of Ecological Change, Distribution and Significance. Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Don Mills, Ontario. 262 pp.
- Larson, D. W. 2001. The paradox of great longevity in a short-lived trees species. Experimental Gerontology: 36: 651-673.
- Larson, D. W., Personal Communication, November 15, 2005.
- Lefort, P., Personal Communication, February 20, 2005.
- Martin, N.D. and N.M. Martin. 2001. Biotic Forest Communities of Ontario. Commonwealth Research, Belleville, Ontario. 195 pp.
- Martin, N.D., Personal Communication, April 1, 2006.
- McCaw, P.E., 1985. The status of black gum (“Nyssa sylvatica” Marsh.) in Backus Woods, Southern Ontario. Masters Thesis, University of Toronto. 136 Pages.
- Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, 2005. Personal communication.
- Quinby, P., M. Henry and T. Lee. 1998. Unpublished Data.
- St. George, S. (Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona), Personal Communication, February 21, 2006.
- Tardif, J., and Y. Bergeron, 1999. Population dynamics of Fraxinus nigra in response to flood-level variations, in northwestern Quebec. Ecological Monographs. 69(1): 107-125.
- Torenvliet, N., 2015. Personal communication. January 21, 2015.
- Vasiliauskas, S. A. 1995. Interpretation of age-structure gaps in Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) populations of Algonquin Park. Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Biology, Queen’s University. 170 pp.
- Vasiliauskas, S. A., Personal Communication, November 25, 2005.
- Vasiliauskas, S. A., Personal Communication, February 9, 2006.
- Wilkie, D. 1837. Sketches of a summer trip to New York and the Canadas. Edinburgh.