Big AR willow oaks   Don Bragg
  May 06, 2005 19:40 PDT 

Willow oaks can be some of the biggest hardwoods in the South, and Arkansas is no exception. I have three such trees to report upon, one of which approaches the current Arkansas state record. I've sent pix of these trees to Ed to post on the website, if he can.

The first willow oak comes from the small town of Beebe, AR about 30 miles northeast of Little Rock on the transition between some of the low, rocky ridges of the Ouachita Highlands province and the Mississippi River Delta (this tree is above the delta on a low ridge comprised of bedrock (some type of shale or sandstone). This tree has been open grown its entire life, and the family who contacted me about it claims that it dates back to the pre-Civil War period when it was part of a slave-holding plantation. I could not confirm its age with an increment corer, but it is possible. Anyhow, the dimensions are as follows:

Common name Scientific       DBH     CBH    HT(sine)   HT(tan) AvgCrwn
                name          (in)    (ft)    (ft)      (ft)    width(ft)
willow oak   Quercus phellos 50.3    13.2    80.7      83.7     91.8
red mulberry Morus rubra      33.3     8.7    34.5       --      34.5

Beebe, Arkansas Willow Oak

Beebe, Arkansas Mullberry

I reported both the sine and tangent heights because the Impulse 200LR that used quickly and directly calculates the tangent height (which I can then report to the landowner), but needs to be adapted to produce the numbers to calculate sine height. The red mulberry was not a monster, but it was impressively stout. I didn't take a tangent height of this individual because of its funky lean, but the sine method worked superbly (34.5 feet is not tall, but for this species, it is a pretty impressive tree).

The next willow oak is a clarification of a then unknown individual from my first official ENTS report:

 
  The following oak is found on the north side of campus, near one of the
entrance roads, but in a non-descript small bottom:

willow oak??? Quercus phellos??? 61.0 16.0 107.4

This is a massive tree, with a broad crown spread, and large, thick
branches. It had apparently grown in more open conditions
initially, but is now surrounding by other oaks, gums, and ashes,
some of which are 20+ inches in DBH. I am not entirely sure of the
species, but it is probably a willow oak.

Turns out that yes, it is a willow oak, and it is on some private property just north of the UAM campus. So, the final ENTS stats for this individual are:

willow oak   Quercus phellos 61.0    16.0   101.2      --.-     --.-

UAM Willow Oak (The person in the photographs is one of our forestry technicians, Kirby Sneed.)

This is an impressive tree that is probably 150 to 200 years old. I'm not sure which limb I used for the previous height, but I feel better about this one, given the technique and the visibility of the top branches from this new angle (I didn't take a tangent reading from this point). The final and most impressive individual is actually growing in a yard off of Main Street in Monticello. I finally contacted the residents today, and they graciously gave me permission to measure the willow oak:

willow oak   Quercus phellos 67.7    17.7    91.8   105.0    104.2

Monticello, Arkansas Willow Oak

This monster is only a little smaller than the co-champion willow oaks listed for Arkansas, which average about 76" DBH and 122 feet wide crowns (and ~108 feet tall, using the tangent method). The crown of this tree is enormous and vibrantly healthy. Note the considerable difference in heights (91.8(sine) versus 105.0(tan) feet). The highest leader is not directly above the bole, and would be almost impossible to spot from the ground. I get more confident with the sine method every time I use it!

I hope to send some more reports on the stands of the area, although as leaf-out is almost complete down here, it becomes very difficult to peer through the woods, so some of this work may have to wait until next fall/winter/spring.

Viva Quercus phellos!!

Don Bragg

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don C. Bragg, Ph.D.
Research Forester
USDA Forest Service
Southern Research Station

RE: big AR willow oaks   Will Blozan
  May 07, 2005 09:43 PDT 

Great report Don- thanks. Unfortunately willow oaks are not native here in
Western NC but they do well when planted. Here in Asheville I have measured
maximum dimensions of ~16' cbh X 107' tall. The largest I have ever seen are
on the US Capital grounds in Washington DC. They were on the order of 22' X
95' tall x 110' wide ten years ago!

Will B
RE: big AR willow oaks   Don Bragg
  May 09, 2005 10:04 PDT 

Willow oaks are popular plantings in town squares and around courthouses because of their fast growth, beautiful, dense, spreading foliage, and pretty yellow fall colors. Unfortunately in Arkansas, we have had a recent spate of over-zealous city employees "topping" the branches and either damaging or destroying the trees. The practice of topping was much more common in Utah than I've seen it elsewhere, yet I have started to see more and more of it here in the South. I have never heard a trained arborist speak well of the practice, yet it is far more common that it should be...I guess one doesn't need to be a certified arborist to top a tree, but the word needs to get out how poor of a practice this is (they're not removing damaged or hazardous limbs, just trying to make a "lollipop tree").

Don Bragg