Creosote Bush Is More Than 11,000 Years Old

A creosote bush in Palm Springs may be one of the oldest living things on Earth, scientists said last week. Carbon-14 dating of wood from the bush indicates it is at least 11,000 years old, according to Jim Cornett, curator of natural sciences at the Palm Springs Desert Museum. The bush is a 38-foot, straight line of genetically identical bushes connected at the roots. Although the creosote plants normally grow in a ring, Cornett speculated that high desert winds caused the exposed plant to grow in the straight line.

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Compiled by Times staff writer Thomas H. Maugh II