Mitengo yonse imakhala ndi moyo wosiyana. Pafupifupi, thundu limakhala zaka 800, pine zaka 600, larch zaka 400, apulo zaka 200, rowan zaka 80, ndi quince pafupifupi zaka 50. Pakati pazitali zazitali ziyenera kutchedwa yew ndi cypress - zaka 3000 aliyense, baobab ndi sequoia - zaka 5000. Kodi mtengo wakale kwambiri padziko lapansi ndi uti? Ndipo ali ndi zaka zingati?
Mtengo wa Metusela
Mtengo wamoyo wakale kwambiri womwe watchulidwa mu Guinness Book of Records ndi mtengo wa Methuselah, womwe ndi wa Pinus longaeva (intermountain bristlecone pine). Panthawi ya 2017, zaka zake ndi zaka 4846. Kuti muwone paini, muyenera kupita ku Inio National Forest ku California (United States of America), chifukwa mtengo wakale kwambiri padziko lathuli umakulira kumeneko.
Mtengo wakale kwambiri udapezeka mu 1953. Kupeza kumeneku ndi kwa botanist Edmund Schulman. Zaka zingapo atapeza mtengo wa paini, adalemba nkhani yokhudza iwo ndikuufalitsa m'magazini yotchuka ya National Geographic. Mtengo uwu umadziwika ndi dzina loti ngwazi ya m'Baibulo Methuselah, yemwe anali chiwindi chachitali ndipo amakhala zaka 969.
Kuti muwone mitengo yakale kwambiri padziko lathuli, muyenera kupita kukakwera mapiri a White Mountains, omwe ali maola 3.5-4 kuchokera ku Los Angeles. Mukafika phirilo ndi galimoto, muyenera kukwera kutalika kwa pafupifupi 3000 mita. Mtengo wa Methuselah Pine, womwe ndi wopanda miyala, umakulira m'mapiri ndipo sikovuta kufikako popeza kulibe njira zokwera. Pamodzi ndi mitengo ina, Methuselah amakula m'nkhalango yamapini akale, olimba, omwe ali ochepa zaka zochepa kuposa iye. Mapaini onsewa akuyimira kwamuyaya, chifukwa awona zochitika zambiri m'mbiri.
Tiyenera kukumbukira kuti makonda enieni amtengo wakale kwambiri padziko lapansi sadziwika kwa anthu onse. Siziwululidwa kuti mbewuyo ikhale ndi moyo. Aliyense akangodziwa malowa, anthu adzayamba kubwera kunkhalango, kujambula zithunzi za Methuselah, kusiya zinyalala kumbuyo, kukonzanso zowononga zomwe zingayambitse kuwonongeka kwachilengedwe komanso kufa kwa mbewu zakale kwambiri padziko lapansi. Pachifukwa ichi, zimangoyang'ana zithunzi zomwe zaikidwa m'mabuku osiyanasiyana komanso pa intaneti ndi anthu omwe adawonapo mtengo wakale kwambiri wamaso ndi kujambula pazithunzi. Titha kungoganiza chomwe chinapangitsa kuti mtengowo ukhale ndi moyo wautali, chifukwa nthawi yayitali ya mapini ndi zaka 400.
