==============================================================================
TOPIC: Cemetery Trees
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/65e7f6eb6cfa9ff2?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Oct 30 2007 10:27 pm
From: James Parton


ENTS,

Joy, my girlfriend was making a visit to the Veterans Cemetery in
Black Mountain NC last Sunday to visit her brother's gravesite & while
there she found some noteworthy trees. Three were introduced
chestnuts, probably Chinese. She brought back some burrs/nuts for me
to see & leaves. 

But she found one tree that I have had a challenge to
identify. It has an acorn surrounded by a base that is like a spiky
burr! It's leaves are very chestnut-like. She also photographed the
tree as well. I have narrowed it to three possible types. 

The Burr Oak. The Tanoak and The Valonia Oak. It most resembles the Tanoak
because of the chestnut like leaves. Will lives or works in Black
Mountain & may have visited these trees. I dunno? I have been able to
find quite a bit on the Burr Oak & Tanoak trees on the web but info on
the Valonia Oak is scarce.

[Note: It was ID'd as a Sawtooth Oak ]

The Maples were very colorful too. A lot of oranges though most of the
leaves had already fallen when she went.

James Parton.





== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Oct 31 2007 1:32 am
From: dbhguru


James,

I have had good luck with cemeteries when searching for big trees. The old cemeteries in New England can go back into the 1600s. There is often an area where the oldest graves are located. Trees remaining in those areas can be quite old. I often pause momentarily and pay my respects to the deceased and ask for permission for passage. It is a little personal ritual and I feel better after doing it.

There is a cemetery about 20 miles from where I live. It is in the little town of Conway in the Berkshires. There are several gargantuan white pines in the cemetery. One has been named Yo Mama. It may be the largest white pine in Massachusetts. Yo Mama measures 15.6 feet in circumference and is 122.3 feet tall. At about 10 feet up, she splits into multiple trunks, so modeling her is a real pain. However, armed with my trusty TruPulse 360, I will soon tackle the job in earnest. Any way, cemeteries can be fertile grounds for a few isolated big trees.

By the way, Yo Mama has a sister in Stanley Park, Westfield, MA, which is arguably as large , if not larger, than Yo Mama. Yo Mama's Sister measures 15.7 feet around and is 131.5 feet tall. We'll soon know which of the two has eaten her way to ENTS championship status.

Bob