Short answers, pulled from the story.
The world's oldest living non-clonal tree is a Great Basin bristlecone pine named Pinus longaeva that has witnessed 4,700 years of human history. This ancient organism predates the invention of the wheel and the founding of Rome while growing at a pace so slow that a single year of growth might be measured in mere millimeters.
The earliest conifers emerged as small trees in dry upland habitats during the Late Carboniferous period. They became the undisputed rulers of the Mesozoic era and survived the catastrophic Permian-Triassic extinction event that wiped out so many other species.
A wild population of fewer than 60 adult Wollemia nobilis trees exists in the narrow steep-sided sandstone gorges of Australia. This species was discovered in 1994 and is now the sole survivor of its genus with all trees sharing essentially no genetic variability.
The larch species Larix gmelinii is the world's most northern-ranging tree species found at 75 degrees north in the Taymyr Peninsula. These trees have developed adaptations to survive winters including a conical shape to shed snow and strong tracheid vessels to tolerate ice pressure.
Worldwide wood products reached a value of $100 billion by the end of the 20th century highlighting the immense economic importance of these trees. In the United Kingdom the 48% of the woodland that is coniferous yields over 90% of the timber with the top species being sitka spruce which yields about half of the timber produced.