I love trying to imagining having been alive as a self-aware, perceptive tree for that long and having witnessed the dawn of civilization to present. My mother has always said that she hopes she can be reincarnated as a giant sequoias tree.
He didn't make the list, but if you visit NZ, I promise you won't regret visiting this grand old tree, "The Father of the Forest". It's a few hours drive north of Auckland and well worth the trip. The last time I was there, there was a feral beehive about halfway up the trunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Matua_Ngahere
In the beginning before the world was light, Rangi the sky-father and Papa the earth-mother, were bound together, their offspring trapped in the darkness between them. The sons became desperate for light and space, so agreed to separate from their parents. The strongest among them, Tane Mahuta, put his shoulder to Papa and thrust upwards with his powerful legs, disregarding the protests of a weeping Rangi and Papa, as they were wrenched away from each other’s embrace. Tane Mahuta pushed upwards with all his great strength, until Rangi was forced far away up into the sky, and Tane held him there, letting the light shine in. The Te Roroa people of Waipoua believe that Tane Mahuta’s legs were the giant trunks of kauri trees. Because the strong trunks had been able to hold up the sky-father, light came in and life was able to burst forth around the foot of Tane Mahuta’s legs.