Young Blonde Girl Near The Tree

Many fully grown mature trees may be very short due to environmental factors or disease. However healthy and well grown specimens of a few species of tree only reach a height of a few centimetres. Amongst these is Lepidothamnus laxifolius believed to be the shortest conifer in the world.
Oldest trees
The oldest trees are determined by growth rings, which can be seen if the tree is cut down, or in cores taken from the bark to the center of the tree. Accurate determination is only possible for trees that produce growth rings, generally those in seasonal climates. Trees in uniform non-seasonal tropical climates grow continuously and do not have distinct growth rings. It is also only possible for trees that are solid to the center. Many very old trees become hollow as the dead heartwood decays. For some of these species, age estimates have been made on the basis of extrapolating current growth rates, but the results are usually largely speculation. White (1998) proposes a method of estimating the age of large and veteran trees in the United Kingdom through the correlation between a tree's stem diameter, growth character and age.