How old are tropical trees? The persistence of a myth

The recent report of ancient trees in the Amazon region (Chambers et al. 19 98) with a maximum radiocarbon dated age of about 1400 years for the long-l iving pioneer species Cariniana micrantha is discussed in the light of dend rochronological age determinations from Africa and South America together w ith the results of indirect age estimations from other sources. There is a tendency in the literature to considerably overestimate the maximum ages of tropical trees. Age determination by the direct counting of annual rings a nd making estimations for hollow trees by measuring growth rates and diamet ers result in ages between 400 and 500 years for the largest trunk dimensio ns, e.g. in Cariniana legalis.