ENTS,

The 11-acre old growth Liverpool Maple Grove at Wetzel Rd. Elementary School in Clay, northern Onondaga County, NY has some of the largest forest-grown Sugar Maples in the Northeast, including a giant Sugar Maple 51.9" dbh.In addition to the Sugar Maples are several very old Basswoods. On 4/26/2003 I got age data from 2 fallen Basswoods:

Basswood log cross-section 170 rings .6' radius 40' above base and
Basswood log cross-section from fallen forest-grown tree at north edge of grove 242 rings all extremely tight, counted on intact .55' radius and there should have been at least 10 more rings in the tiny hollow center; this cross-section was counted 38 feet above the base of the tree - Robert Henry and I measured the log 38' long from its uprooted base to the point where it was sawed off to where a cross-section could be counted. This tree was easily much older than  242 years, and should be the oldest American Basswood documented.

Species identification and ring count are definite.

Tom Howard

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