We were excited to meet Larry and the southern shagbark hickory and to take
part in the first concentrated ENTS trip to Alabama. This was also a special
trip in the sense that it was one of the few ENTS trips to a private
property, and one solicited by the owner. We were honored to be contacted by
Larry and so hospitably received and housed in the ancient Brasher
farmhouse- complete with trees planted by the family more than 130 years
ago. It seemed every tree had a history and an anecdote associated with it.
Larry was deeply connected to the property and is a strong advocate for its
continued preservation and the creation of a conservation easement. His
intimate knowledge of the property and individual trees coupled with his
extensive botanical knowledge made the trip immensely rewarding. Larry is
the quintessential ENTS, and his passion shows freely in his actions and
words. Jess and I could not have had a better guide or experience there.

  Jess Riddle and Will Blozan 
measuring the "huge" bottlebrush buckeye in Brasher Woods with various 
poles and tapes on a limestone precipice.  The tree is 11", and 22.8' tall 
with an average spread of 14.3' and maximum spread of 15.7' - photo 
by Larry Brasher

The Brasher property is on Red Mountain, a foothill ridge paralleling the
Cumberland Plateau rising nearly 500 feet above the valley floor. Greasy
Cove, approximately 12 miles long, is drained by Clear Creek, which
traverses the Brasher Tract. Brasher Springs is a gorgeous natural spring
that boils out of the ground at the rate of up to 100,000 gallons per hour.
The water is pure and crystal clear, but at 59 degrees year-round makes you
think twice about taking a dip!

The Brasher Tract, referred to by the family as "the big woods" is a 50 acre
old-growth forest in private family ownership since 1866. Only a small
section of the forest was disturbed when the land was out of the Brasher
family for 20 years (ca. 1905). Tuliptrees- the "one log per truck" kind-
were cut on the lower slopes but the surrounding oak-hickory forest was left
undisturbed except for some cutting of downed chestnut for fence posts in
the 1940's.

According to the Alabama Natural Heritage Program, the Brasher woods are
"The finest old-growth hardwood forest remaining in the state of Alabama".
In fact, the tract is the type site for the "Southern Ridge and Valley Basic
Mesic Hardwood Forest" (Milo Pyne, International Classification of
Ecological Communities, 2003).

The site is unusually rich in plant diversity, including 20 species of ferns
and 11 orchids! In our short time there Jess and I measured 36 species of
trees and 3 species of shrubs. This diversity is due in part to the
calcareous nature of Red Mountain. Chickamauga limestone is present at the
base of the slope by the creek, followed by Sequatchie and Red Mountain
formations successively to the top of the slope, the latter a sandstone.
These distinct layers of rock are revealed at the surface by the vegetation.
Larry has been studying the extensive communities of an extremely rare plant
that at present lacks a generally known common name. Pending his forthcoming
paper which will reveal some local and traditional names, I will refer to it
simply as Croomia pauciflora. This rare herb in the Stemona family occurs on
Red Mountain as a disjunct population. Larry has found that this plant may
be associated with a particular stratum of rock, which is abundant on his
property. Of the known populations in the state, the largest occurs on the
Brasher property, and on adjacent tracts of Red Mountain recently surveyed
by Larry.

Bark detail, southern shagbark hickory 
National Champion - photo by Will Blozan

We began our survey on a crisp 24 degree morning. One of the showcase
species of the property is southern shagbark hickory (Carya
carolinae-septentrionalis). Larry nominated the current National Champion
which was one of the first trees we measured. We found the tree to have
grown 2 inches in girth but it "shrunk" in height by 23 feet once the laser
numbers were calculated. Still, at 127 feet tall it was an impressive
specimen and one of the tallest on the property. To confound the
identification of this unusual species, the "ordinary" shagbark hickory (C.
ovata) was present at times only yards away and sharing the canopy.
Mockernut, pignut, and bitternut rounded out the hickory species, all of
which reached impressive sizes.

The oaks were the next most abundant group with at least 10 species
represented. Chestnut oak was the most common, with northern red, white,
chinquapin, shumard, black, and scarlet also present. The location of a
Saul's oak (Quercus x saulii) on an adjacent site added to our suspicion
that it is a very common natural hybrid that is likely omnipresent in
forests with extensive populations of white and chestnut oaks. Jess and I
routinely find them.

Other common species included Florida maple, American beech, tuliptree,
white basswood, common paw-paw, hop-hornbeam, red bud, dogwood, red
mulberry, black walnut and chalk maple. Several species of hawthorn, plums,
oak-leaf and woodland hydrangea filled the shrub layer. The most common
shrub was by far bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) which formed an
omnipresent and dense thicket nearly throughout the property. Many were
covered with a large white scale which could be as wide as the stem they
were feeding on. The diversity was astounding and I was instantly
overwhelmed with so many new species in such close proximity. We may have
located a rare shrub species not previously known to the property, Hydrangea
arborescens ssp. discolor. I thought at first it was ssp. radiata which is a
bright white under the leaf surface, but it is more likely the ssp. discolor
which is characterized by a gray underside. I am not sure of the current
taxonomic splits of these subspecies but it may or may not be significant.

Very little American chestnut debris was seen but sprouts were present along
with Allegheny chinquapin. We measured a tree being studied by the American
Chestnut Foundation that appears to be a hybrid of both species. It has the
bark and growth form of Allegheny chinquapin but the leaves are much larger
and more lanceolate and deeply toothed than "typical". The tree is not
considered an American chestnut or hybrid at this time so we will list it as
a chinquapin (although the name "chinq-nut" was used during the day when we
encountered more.). The tree we measured set a new eastern height record of
49'.

After the battery in my rangefinder warmed up we were off in typical ENTS
style, measuring all we saw and running here and there exclaiming for the
other to come and see what we had spotted. I'm sure Larry had no idea what
he was in for and thought we would never get off the mountain. Well, he was
close- we did not leave the mountain until dark having spent the entire day
from sun-up to sundown measuring, measuring, and measuring. I think Jess and
I set a new record for the most trees of the most species measured in one
day- and many "new to science" in the sense that they had never been
measured before as a species or for the state. It was thrilling!

Larry and the big Devils-walkingstick, Fitzhugh Woods - photo by Will Blozan

Tall persimmon, Fitzhugh Woods - photo by Will Blozan

We actually visited two sites on Red Mountain, the other being a tract once
owned by the Fitzhugh family. This tract was "discovered" by Larry on a
Croomia survey. It was smaller and more disturbed than the Brasher Tract but
nonetheless contained some very impressive trees. We found a new state
champion Devils-walkingstick (Aralia spinosa) and a tall persimmon that
reached 112.8'- just a few feet shy of the tallest known to ENTS. One cove
contained a huge pignut hickory and immense American beech that towered over
124'. Jess was floored by the chinquapin oaks, and one was measured to a new
record height of 121'.

Giant beech, Brasher Tract - photo by Will Blozan

Giant pignut hickory, Brasher Tract - photo by Will Blozan

Conversations went on into the night and excitement was building for the
trip the next day into the Bankhead National Forest with the locally famous
Lamar Marshall of Wild Alabama (Jess will post a separate write-up on that
GREAT trip.)

The first day's tally was exciting and presented the first Rucker Index for
the state, a very respectable 132.9. This site is now the tallest
family-owned forest ENTS has thus far surveyed. Here is the line up for
Brasher Woods:

Fitzhugh's Woods, with its more disturbed character has a lower Rucker
Index, but contained some taller species or specimens that bring the Red
Mountain Rucker Index to over 134. Curiously, common persimmon made it onto
the list!

It was very interesting that tuliptree did not do its usual domination of
the Rucker Index. In general, the representative specimens on the site were
relatively short even though they were old enough to have grown much taller.
We can only guess at the dimensions of the trees logged in the early 1900's.
But based on the similar performance of the tuliptree in the Bankhead
National Forest the species is certainly out of its prime growing sites and
conditions.

As far as the Rucker Index goes, the Brasher Tract is exceptionally
impressive given the lack of any conifer components. Very few high Rucker
sites (>130 RI) ENTS has measured lacks a conifer component. In comparison,
the Montpelier Estate, with its Rucker Index of 135.07, has but one conifer
which is just second from the lowest value and will be quickly supplanted by
more hardwood measurements. Furthermore, the Brasher Woods has a span of 22
feet between the tallest and the lowest species, as compared to over 48 feet
in Montpelier. Since the Rucker Indices of the sites are so close, this
suggests a higher diversity of tall trees in Brasher Woods than Montpelier
even though the tallest tree in Brasher Woods is fully 25 feet shorter than
Montpelier.

The bottom line is that Brasher Woods is an exceptional forest of extreme
diversity in both species and dimensions. It is also exceptionally well
preserved and suffers from few exotic specie invasions in the "Big Woods"
section. Larry said he brings his classes up to the property to manage
exotic encroachment (oh, what a job that would be!) on the more disturbed
lower section, and as Jess and I traversed the property we pulled Chinese
privet and Japanese barberry.

In summary, the Red Mountain sites we sampled exceeded any of our
expectations. In fact, pending the collection of a few spread measurements,
we found 11 state champions between the two sites; three other record-sized
species were spotted but not measured. The depth of tall trees of many
species blew us away. For eight species, the tallest known representatives
grow on Red Mountain and three others are just a few feet taller on other
sites. These forests are holding their own with respect to other ENTS
surveyed sites, and contribute heavily to the state of Alabama having a high
Rucker Index of 139.8. A Rucker Index so high after just five sites sampled
hint at the potential ENTS has yet to discover. We have not yet seen good
habitat for eastern hemlock, eastern white pine or tuliptree. Naturally, the
coastal swamp and floodplain forests should yield some tall trees. A low to
mid 140 Rucker Index is certainly within the realm of possibility.

We extend our sincere appreciation to Larry Brasher and his family for
inviting ENTS to survey "the big woods". Without his keen eye and deep
devotion to the land these mountain treasures would be forever lost and
relegated to being the subject of imaginative speculation. It is a pity how
few sites like these exist, and more so what has already been lost. The
Brasher family has ensured that we will know these places as they were, and
with proper management, will remain so into the future.

Thank you Larry!

Will Blozan with Jess Riddle