Ents,

Last month, I spent a few days hiking in the Cohutta Wilderness Area
after having been away from the area for four years.  On this return
trip, I was repeatedly struck by the Cohutta's unusual species
distributions and the odd juxtapositions allowed by the area's
location and topography.  Elevations in the wilderness area range from
just under a thousand feet near the mouth of the Jacks River to 4151'
on Cowpen Mountain, and the range comprises the western edge of the
Appalachians, except for smaller foothills that continue into Alabama
(I wrote a fuller overview of the Cohuttas here
http://tinyurl.com/ml7lcq).  Loblolly pine, among the most ubiquitous
trees in the Piedmont of the Southeast but absent elsewhere in the
Appalachians, follows larger streams into the Cohuttas and scattered
individuals reach as high as 2200' elevation.  They compete directly
with hemlock, white pine, and sweetgum.  White pine’s range overlaps
with loblolly only in the cohuttas and surrounding areas, so those two
workhorses of the timber industry rarely interact.  Sweetgum, similar
to loblolly pine in general distribution although creeping into the
edges of several other mountain ranges, remains a dominant stream side
tree to over 2000'.  The phenomenon occurs not only in trees, but also
shrubs.  Yellowroot, a small riparian shrub common in the Piedmont,
occurs in patches as high as 2800’.  Adding to the unusual
combinations, scattered yellow birch, a tree in Georgia generally
restricted to high peaks, grow along the Conasauga River down to at
least 2000’.

When I saw some saplings with extremely large leaves growing along the
road at the wilderness area’s southern edge, I thought umbrella
magnolia, a tree of low elevation mountain streams that occurs in the
eastern half of the wilderness area, also reached exceptional
elevations .  On closer inspection, the saplings turned out to be big
leaf magnolia, a similar species whose closest natural populations are
30 or 40 miles to the south.  Either birds have carried the seed from
yard trees a few miles away, or someone has chosen convenient canopy
gaps to try to start a new population.  In either case, the trees seem
unlikely to survive long since they grow on the shoulders of a high,
exposed ridge rather than the species’ typical habitat of narrow
ravines.

On the trip, my dad and I also explored several coves for tall trees.
As occurs elsewhere in the wilderness area with remarkable
consistency, tuliptrees shaded a dense herb layer at upper ends of
north facing coves, but at about the point where surface water began
to flow the understory changed to pure rhododendron and hemlocks
entered the canopy.  A well sheltered east facing cove with slightly
older forests than previously visited local rich coves followed that
pattern, and held easily the most impressive trees.  In addition to
tuliptrees, scattered basswood, bitternut hickory, and sugar maples
reached the overstory, and sapling silverbell, buckeye, and sugar
formed a well developed midstory.  Unfortunately, by the time I
reached the cove, I barely had enough light to see through the
rangefinder, so I could only collect rough heights only a few trees.

Species…………….……Cbh……Height
Hemlock………………...NA…….138.9’
Hemlock*………………..NA…….149.0’
Magnolia, Cucumber……8’0”…...129.1’
Maple, Sugar*…………...9’4”……121.2’
Oak, Northern Red……...8’8.5”….132.4’
Pine, White……………...NA……..145.1’
Tuliptree*………………...9’1”…….150.4’
Winterberry, Mountain…1’1”…….34.7’
Winterberry, Mountain…1’9”…….38.1’

*tree in the cove described above

The hemlock and northern red oak are each the fifth tallest of the
species measured in Georgia with all of the taller red oaks growing in
the Chattooga/Tugaloo watershed.  The cucumbertree is the second
tallest known in Georgia, and sugar maple and mountain winterberry are
Georgia's tallest known individuals.

Rucker Index…………..134.8’
Tuliptree………………..150.4’
Hemlock………………..149.0’
White Pine……………..145.1’
Pignut Hickory………...140.3’
Black Cherry…………..137.3’
Northern Red Oak……..132.4’
Cucumber Magnolia…..129.1’
White Ash……………...128.0’
Sugar Maple……………121.2’
Yellow Buckeye……….120.8’

The Rucker Index ranks fourth among Georgia sites, although all of
higher Rucker indices are for smaller sites.

Here's a link to some photographs taken on the trip described in my
last post, plus a few from nearby Fort Mountain State Park.  Most
shots are of flowers or fungi.

White oak at Tearbritches trailhead

http://tinyurl.com/pulf8q

Jess