| Weekend
forays: Robinson State Park |
Robert
Leverett |
| Oct
23, 2006 05:29 PDT |
ENTS,
Two days of intense tree measuring produced
some gratifying results.
On Saturday I went solo to MTSF.
On Sunday, Gary Beluzo and I went to Robinson
SP and wandered around
in new areas. We were not disappointed. The catch for Sunday
follows.
Species Height Circ
N. red oak 117.2 8.1
Pignut hickory 113.2 7.3
N. red oak 113.2 9.2
Sycamore 112.9 9.0
Sycamore 112.7 9.8
Pignut hickory 109.2 4.8
Cottonwood 105.2 8.6
Sugar maple 104.7 8.0
Cottonwood 102.6 8.7
N. red oak 100.3 11.1
Pignut hickory 99.7 6.5
Pignut hickory 99.4 8.0
Pignut hickory 98.2 5.9
White oak 93.1 7.4
Black birch 92.2 7.7
Slippery elm 88.0 7.7
N. red oak 87.7 10.4
White birch 78.8 4.9
The Northern red oak in Robinson SP is the
tallest I've measured thus
far in the Connecticut River Valley region. The Rucker index of
Robinson
is now 112.2. I believe we will eventually get to between 113
and 114.
Within state forests, reservations, and parks within the
Connecticut
River Valley region, Robinson moves into 2nd place behind Mt Tom
State
Reservation in terms of its RHI. Mt Tom is 115.8. Within
Massachusetts,
RHIs for state forests and park-like properties, public and
private are
as follows.
Site Rucker Index
Mohawk Trail State Forest 136.1
Ice Glen
126.2
Monroe State Forest
123.7
Mount Tom State Reservation 115.8
Bullard Woods
112.9
Laurel Hill in Stockbridge 112.5
Bartholomew Cobble
112.5
Robinson State Park
112.2
Monica’s Woods (Florence, MA) 112.1
Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary 111.5
Stanley Park, Westfield
109.1
Hatfield Floodplain
107.4
Bryant Woods
106.9
Look Park
106.6
Skinner State Park
101.7
Unless Lee confirms otherwise on Oct
26th, Gary and I are in
agreement that black maple is not present in Robinson SP. The
early
identification relied on the characteristic of the sun leaves of
sugar
maple, which were also the first to fall. The identification
process was
a reminder to me for how much leaf variability there is for
sugar maple.
I have since started to look at variability more carefully among
the
oaks, not that I've been previously unaware that it exists, but
how
often it results in misleading descriptions in tree ID books.
Here is a
case in point. Monica has a scarlet oak. Its fall color is
unmistakably
scarlet that of scarlet or pin. The vivid color is what first
catches
the eye. Its acorns are unmistakably scarlet, by common
description
(striped). However, I read a description of pin oak in an
Arkansas tree
guide that described the striped pattern as applying to some pin
oaks.
The shapes of the tree's leaves at the top are simple and close
to pin
oak. However, most of the leaves throughout most of the tree's
foliage
have the more complex structure of scarlet, relative to pin. But
at the
bottom, some of the broader shade leaves are suggestive of black
oak.
The bark texture and pattern is about midway between red and
black oak -
as opposed to being close to what I commonly observe for pin
oak. The
tree has none of the curled lower branching common to you and
intermediate aged pin oaks. It is a scarlet with some pin and
black oak
characteristics. Enough to give one a headache. Where are the
dividing
lines?
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
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