Manhan River   Robert Leverett   Jul 21, 2002 16:10 PDT  Colby and others:     Well, back to the Manhan River terraces went I this afternoon with an intention to check on the tulip trees growing there, but did I ever get sidetracked - by butternuts. Several in the forest are in reasonably good health and they are trying to compete with the tuliptrees. There are also several tall black locusts trying to secure their place in the sun. The result of today's foray is two new tall tree champions for Mass. Both grow in this Northampton river terrace forest.     Species            Height        Circumference     Butternut           111.7         6.0     Black Locust     110.8        4.0     The butternut is a new species for my list, which pleases me no end. The black locust is a slight improvement on the Leeds tree. The Northampton butternuts have the forest grown shapes and what beauties they are! I am suddently a butternut fan. Of the 7 butternuts I saw, 3 are on their way out. Two are doing so-so and two are in apparently good shape.     My Massachusetts tall tree list now has 41 species. I've attached and updated list. Bob Manhan River, MA   Robert Leverett   Aug 10, 2002 14:48 PDT  Dale, Colby, et al:       Today I spent several hours searching and measuring on a river terrace of the Manhan River in Northampton. I am happy to report that we now have another site that can officially be listed under Colby's list of Tall Tree Sites:       Species      Height    Circumference       TULIPTREE 131.2 13.4       BUTTERNUT 111.7 6       BLACK LOCUST 110.8 4       BLACK CHERRY 109.6 5.3       SUGAR MAPLE 108 8       BITTERNUT HICKORY 104.9 10.3       SWAMP WHITE OAK 103.6 9.8       AMERICAN BEECH 102.7 7.2       SILVER MAPLE 101.4 8.8       N. RED OAK 96.1 9.6     The Rucker Index for the Northampton site is 108.0. By widening the search area and going down to the river channel, the Rucker index will reach 109 and eventually 110 or 111. I don't believe it will go higher. The total number of species in the area that exceed 100 feet will eventually number 12 or possibly 13.     The swamp white oak (I think) was an excellent, but unexpected find. I had a hard identifying it because its bark is darker than usual for the species and there is only a hint of the shingling on limbs aloft. It looks midway between a chestnut oak and a swamp white oak. I really don't know quite what to make of it. Its location next to a tall tuliptree caused it to reach upward.     The site has several non-native species including European beech. I measured one at 10.6 feet in circumference and 101.2 feet in height. There are some over 12 feet around. The maple mix includes both sugar and Norway. The latter may reach record height for Massachusetts. The bank leading to the terrace has large, older northern red oaks. The species list for the site follows: Tuliptree (canopy dominate) Bitternut hickory (scattered) Red maple (scattered) Sugar maple (very common) Norway maple (common) Swamp white oak (two trees only) Green ash (scattered) American beech (scattered) European beech ( a few big ones) Northern red oak (common on the upper banks) Butternut (around 12 trees) Black birch (scattered, mostly on the banks) Yellow birch (young on the lower bank near a stream) Black cherry (scattered) Black locust (a cluster) American elm (all young) Box elder (boundary) European linden (one) Catalpa (one) and what may be a river birch. I haven't absolutely identified it yet.     Dale, a few more thoughts on the turf wars. Over the years, I've made presentations to all kinds of timber specialist groups and it has never taken me long to win aceptance from the audience as a legitimate voice in the world of big tree knowledge. However, many coordinators of the state champion tree programs are often far removed from the their subject and possess little or no knowledge on how to accurately measure trees. They understandably must turn to their superiors for guidance and that is the start of the bigger problem. But how are the coordinators to know who to turn to?     The ENTS mission needs to move rapidly forward and our website needs to grow along the current direction of site-based information. Let others chase down isolated trees. We go for the sites, speaking of which a recap of the Mass sites for which we have a Rucker Index calculated. Site                                    Index MTSF                                 131.45 Ice Glen                               125.39 MSF                                    118.69 Mt. Tom                               110.2 Arcadia                                109.68 Northampton-Manhan          108.00 William Cullen Bryant            103.00 (estimated for two species)     I'm half way there for Bullard Woods. I expect the Rucker Index will be around 113. Mount Greylock holds great promise and I expect will be between 116 and 118. Bob Manhan River floodplain:   New Record   dbhg-@comcast.net   Feb 20, 2005 19:48 PST  Dale, Will, Lee, et al:    Gary Beluzo and I scoured part of the Manhan River floodplain for a few hours today and we were rewarded with a arrow straight green ash on the opposite side of the Manhan. It turned out to be 113.7 feet tall, which set a new record for the species in Massachusetts. The tree appeared to be at least 10 feet in circumference. We were impressed. We then remeasured the state's height champion sycamore in Easthampton. It has grown slightly. It is now 136.5 feet and as such now ranks behind the white ash as the state's second tallest hardwood species. Its 13.4-foot circumference makes it an impressive tree. With the tuliptree whimping out in Massachusetts and cottonwoods topping out in the 120s, Massachusetts is the transition zone for hardwoods. By the time Vermont or New Hampshire is reached, tree height has descended another rung on the ladder. Maine is the province of unexciting hardwoods. So the hardwood action is all from central Massachusetts south. Bob   Home