Hen Wallow Creek    Jess Riddle    Jan 29, 2006 14:49 PST  Ents, In the northeastern Great Smoky Mountains, near Cosby, Tennessee, the steep slopes of the large mountains begin around 2600' elevation. Below that level, the land slopes gently north and down to the park around 1800' elevation without major sheltering ridges. Farmers settled extensively on those broad flats, and the current vegetation suggest the adjacent mountain slopes retain considerable more moister. Threetop Mountain and Gabes Mountain, the latter actually more of a ridge, deviate from that general topographic pattern by jutting north from the main mountain mass. Between them, Hen Wallow Branch drains the unusually sheltered, northwest facing, low elevation cove. Remnants of chimneys and stone walls attest to the extensive use of the lower north-facing slopes within those coves. Tuliptees now form an almost pure overstory on those slopes. Small hemlocks the understory on the small spur ridges that break up the cove while striped maples fill in the understory in moister areas, and rhododendron lines the main stream. On the west side of Threetop Mountain, above past farming activity, pitch pine and oaks form a canopy of a dense heath layer. The steep, upper slopes on the north side of Gabes Mountain also avoided agricultural use. Cliffs outcrop in several of the subsidiary coves on the slope, and old-growth forest remains above them. Below the cliffs, grape vines swarm over small ridges and tuliptrees still dominate the coves. The tuliptrees are larger than the ones farther downslope; and they compete with silverbells; black walnut; and a few white ash, basswoods, and sugar maples. The abundance of buckeyes and yellowwoods in the midstory indicate the richness of the soils below the cliffs. Black walnuts usually grow near low elevation settled areas in the park, and are generally viewed as imports to this part of the park. However, the scarcity of walnuts in the more settled portion of the cove and frequency of walnuts in the richest area of the cove suggest they may be native to the cove. One north facing side cove on Gabes Mountain had especially large trees. A 57' high cliff and adjacent steep slopes provide the cove great sheltering and shade from the south, but the ridges on either side are too low to provide substantial shelter; storms in the past few years felled several overstory trees on the west side of the cove. Since then, a profusion of young yellow buckeyes and silverbells have grown in the understory. All of the trees listed below, except the 113.5' and 132.0' walnuts, grow in this side cove. Species Cbh Height Ash, White 11'9.5" 129.2' Tuliptree NA 154.1' Walnut, Black NA 113.5' Walnut, Black 7'9" 127.9' Walnut, Black 5'9" 132.0' Walnut, Black 8'0" 136.1' Walnut, Black 13'9" 144.3' Yellowwood 7'4" 92.8' The yellowwood is a potential Tennessee State champion and is the second tallest ENTS has documented. The carcasses of similarly large yellowwoods lay nearby. The previous height record for black walnut in the Smokies and in Tennessee was 135'. The 13'9" x 144.3' individual is a potential Tennessee state champion and the tallest individual ENTS has found of the species. The tree grows a short distance up a 38-degree side slope, and arches over a 150' tall tuliptree growing in the middle of the cove. The short spread is 65', and the long spread is 127.6', a new record for the species in the east. The great range in the spreads resulted from an approximately three foot dbh tuliptree that used to grow just upslope from the tree. Consequently, the crown was only half of a hemisphere. To huge branches that do not grow fully opposite each other form the long spread. Jess Riddle   Home