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TOPIC: Liriodendron tulipifera max age
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/71574d3d1d36391d?hl=en
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== 1 of 5 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 11 2008 3:51 pm
From: "Neil Pederson"
Hi All,
Just wanted to let you know we finally got the old tulip-poplar from
the
Smoky Mountains crossdated with some confidence. It is finally on
Eastern
OLDLIST: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/Spp/LITU.html
and
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/
We can only crossdate it to 1596 - that is as far back as the second
core
from this tree goes; there was a micro & missing ring in the
1700s that was
tripping us up. However, the inside of the oldest core has good ring
definition until a little sliver of punky wood in the early-1500s.
We might
have missed a ring between 1510 & 1595, but we did the best we
could. Given
that sliver of punky wood, I feel safe to say that the oldest core
of this
tree dates to 1500. Given that this tree was last seen in February
2008, we
can safely say that it is 509 yrs old at a minimum age - it was a
hollow
tree and we retrieved about 1/2 of its core, so it is certainly a
good bit
older than 509 yrs.
neil
== 2 of 5 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 11 2008 4:19 pm
From: "Edward Frank"
Neil,
Great to see the data up on your website. I still think it would be
worthwhile to try coring the tree from a rope, maybe twenty or
thirty feet up. Are you going to the gathering in Black Mountain
next week?
Ed
== 3 of 5 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 11 2008 5:43 pm
From: "Gary A. Beluzo"
Congratulations Neil! That has to be the oldest Liriodendron in
existence. Was it still flowering? Do you happen to know the LATLONG?
Gary
== 4 of 5 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 11 2008 7:10 pm
From: "Neil Pederson"
Ed, ENTS,
Unfortunately, I will not be with you at the gathering. I will be at
a
conference. I'm bummed to be missing the gathering.
It would be great to get a better feeling for this tree's age. But,
it will
have to take someone good with ropes, uh-hmm [cough..Will...cough]
and
permission from the park service.
Wouldn't it be cool if this tree was closer to 650 or more? If it
came
closer to that age, it would remind me more of Doug-fir, a
voluminous,
shade-intolerant, long-lived species. Not in the same class as
Doug-fir, but
not too bad for a fast-growing, hardwood.
neil
== 5 of 5 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 11 2008 7:12 pm
From: "Neil Pederson"
Gary,
I met this tree towards the end or after flowering season. We will
be
meeting a park employee tomorrow or Sunday so perhaps someone can
watch it
more closely. We do not have a specific GPS for the tree. I could
walk you
to it some time.
neil
== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Apr 12 2008 6:30 am
From: "Will Blozan"
Neil,
You can always count me in on such a project!
Will
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