It is believed, that King Clone is the oldest creosote bush ring the Mojave Desert, as far as 11,700 years old. Frank Vasek, The professor of University of California has discovered the King Clone and their age are projected by him. The King Clone ring is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. The single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentates reaches up to 67 feet in diameter although average diameter is 45 feet. After Vasek hypothesized that the creosote ring was, in fact, one organism, a graduate student working in Vasek's lab, documented that plants within a ring had more alike characteristics, than those from other plant clusters. The King Clone resides on mostly unprotected lands, because most of people do not care and drive over it with all-terrain vehicles. Due to its natural habitats, the creosote bush may lose some of these waxy, resinous leaves during extreme drought, but never loses them all. Therfore, these leaves are pungent after a rain, and have been used as antiseptics and emetics by native peoples. Its foliage provides refuge for crickets, grasshoppers and praying mantids.
The brainy Vasek has used two methods to estimate the age of ring. The first method is counted rings and measured the distance of annual growth, while the second method to use radiocarbon dating on pieces of wood found in the center of the ring and measuring their distance from each other and living bushes. Therefore, the dating methods come up with similar results. The Creosote Bush is the most characteristic feature of North America's hot deserts that tolerates arid conditions simply by its toughness. It competes belligerently with other plants for water, and frequently wins, for its prevalence in many arid locations.
Furthermore, The King Clone ring is on restricted-access public land in the central Mojave Desert, about 0.6 miles north of California Route 247 on Bessemer Mine Road near the towns of Lucerne Valley and Landers. It is situated within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley. Well, if you want to grow this bush with seeds, then place a number of seed capsules in a shallow pan cover with boiling water. So let them soak overnight. After that place a few seed capsules in a pot with soil and start to water, so thin out the superfluous seedlings and plant. Source: Charismatic Planet
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