Poland Woods OH    Thomas Diggins
   Mar 25, 2004 14:50 PST 

Hello ENTS,

Here's a report from another respectable public site in the Y-town area. Poland
Woods is a town park in an old village that has been swallowed up by the
'burbs. Nice floodplain woodland, with some areas of high and dry beech-maple.
The sycamores here are among the largest trees in NE Ohio. Not as obvious a
pristine core as Kyle Woods, but enough old-growth character to impress. Uneven
size distribution, good canopy diversity, plenty of snags and logs... But,
definitely some areas that are a bit young, and could indicate development last
century. Some disturbed areas might also be the result of the stream's
activities - this creek really floods. Given its accessibility, it would be
safe to presume the whole site was subject to disturbance pre-1900. Equally
likely, though, is that much of it has been continuously forested. Highlights,
with trees contributing to Rucker Index numbered:

1) Tulip                    128.5 x 8' 2"
Tulip                         123.2 x 11' 0"
Tulip                         126.6 x 9' 3"
Tulip                         112.7 x 6' 3" young

The biggest tulips have only a little balding, so they may be only 100-150
years. A much larger one (13'?) had lost most of its crown - heights limited by
wind damage?

2) Sycamore              121.6 x 18' 6"
Sycamore                  114.2 x 16' 6"
Sycamore                  113.1 x 16' 0"

These were the largest single stems, each with a nice section of clear trunk.
The 18-footer has about 40' of clear trunk at >5' diameter. Very handsome tree.
There are several huge multi-stemmed trees, and some may approach 30' "CBH".

3) American beech     111.7 x 8' 8"
4) Coffee tree            110.8 x 7' 2"

A nice group of obviously forest-grown coffee trees. Peterson field guide
indicates this part of OH is outside range, but this tree has a very disjunct
distribution. Any thoughts? Currently will be tallest one listed with ENTS.

5) Scarlett oak            110.5 x 9' 11"
6) Shagbark                109.8 x 6' 1"
7) White ash                109.0 across river
8) Bitternut                  107.9 x 6' 4"
9) Red maple              107.6 x 11' 11"
10) Sugar maple         106.2 x 8' 3"
Black tupelo               103.9 x 9' 1"

Rucker Index = 112.36'

Not bad for a relatively unprotected site. A pattern is starting to emerge from
these good quality NE OH sites. Diversity over 100' is very good, but there's
not much that's really tall. Trees over 140 may be uncommon outside of deep
gorges. I'll be checking out some tall sycamores in the Ashtabula Gorge in the
next few days. I don't expect any old growth forest, but I believe there may be
some impressive bottomland hardwoods. BTW, that's only a few dozen miles west
of the PA gorges Dale has been exploring. More to come.

Tom
RE: Poland Woods OH   edward coyle
  Mar 25, 2004 17:22 PST 

Hey Thom,

Very nice coffee tree. According to Preston and Braham, it is within the
range. They wrote,"Range from extreme southern Ontario to extreme eastern
Nebraska, and south to northern Kentucky and Oklahoma; disjuncts in New
York, PA, WV,VA, TN, WI, MN,...".
There are taller ones listed for NC, maybe Will has seen them, but those
are some great finds in the middle of all that developement.
                                                     Ed