Lomatia tasmanica

A clonal population of this species in Tasmania is claimed to be the world's oldest living plant community, with an estimated age of around 43000 years.

Pinus aristata

The oldest individual (as opposed to clonal) plant is thought to be the 4600 year old bristlecone pine of the Sierra Nevada.

Taxus baccata

Ancient yew trees are a feature of graveyards in Britain. The Fortingall Yew Tree in Glen Lyon, Perthshire, Scotland could be up to 9000 years old.

Pteridium aquilinum

Some bracken clones in Northern Europe may be more than 1400 years old.

Tilia cordata

This lime coppice at the Westonbirt Arboretum has been estimated to be 2000 years old, though 3000 and even 6000 years have been claimed at various times.

Arabidopsis thaliana

At the other extreme is Arabidopsis, the ephemeral weed beloved of plant molecular biologists. By having a fast life-cycle, compact size, relatively simple structure and small genome, Arabidopsis made itself attractive to scientists, who have been more effective at spreading its genes throughout the world than "natural" dispersers. Who's exploiting whom here?