Bob,
Sorry it's been so long to post on recent finds. I've got a huge
backlog, but I'll try to give a brief overview of my findings in
my big
tree surveys at the Erie Cemetery, Erie County, Erie, PA. The
cemetery
is located in the NW corner of PA and probably no more than 2
miles
south of Lake Erie.
Erie Cemetery tuliptree 14.3 cbh x 130.2 feet tall
According to the cemetery's website:
http://www.eriecemeteryassoc.com/erie_cemetery.html
The Erie Cemetery was dedicated on May 20th, 1851. The first
Superintendent of the Erie Cemetery was Capt. Samuel Low, a
civil
engineer, who also served as City Surveyor.
A number of colorful and historical people are buried here
including
Gen. Strong Vincent who died of his wounds on Little Round Top
during
the infamous battle of Gettysburg:
http://www.eriecemeteryassoc.com/famous%20residents.html#07_anc
Here is a link to some photos of the cemetery:
http://www.eriecemeteryassoc.com/photos_ec.html
This cemetery is a treasure trove of large old tuliptrees,
![ec_tulips.jpg (121468 bytes)](ec_tulips_small.jpg)
Erie Cemetary Tuliptrees
cucumbertrees, N. red oaks, and white oaks with a smattering of
handsome
black walnuts. Of course, there are a number of nice exotics in
here
too, but since my knowledge on exotics is limited, I just
measured trees
that I could positively identify for now. This would be a great
place
for an exotic tree species ID course.
![ec_cuke1.jpg (171501 bytes)](ec_cuke1_small.jpg)
Cucumbertree 13.3 x 72.4 HUGE
burled buttress base, 23ft CBH
at 1.5ft off the ground! |
![ec_cuke2.jpg (110229 bytes)](ec_cuke2_small.jpg) |
What really jumps out to me at this site were the massive tulips
that
greet you upon entry through the gates. Girths were most
impressive
here. For NW PA, the tuliptrees, oaks, and cukes here were
impressive
ranging from 13-16ft CBH, ie: we had many more entries that made
our
12x100 club. "Knarl" factor was quite impressive here.
Ancient crown
architecture was prevalent throughout the site. Although the
cemetery
is now 155 years old, I believe a number of these trees could
have been
forest remnants that could easily reach the 200 year age class
or
better.
![oak_sp1.jpg (125183 bytes)](oak_sp1_small.jpg)
Large Oak |
![oak_sp3.jpg (121785 bytes)](oak_sp3_small.jpg) |
This cemetery not only functions as a resting place for those
who have
gone on before us, but also serves as a type of "city
park" where many
go during their busy days to escape the hustle of daily life in
the
city. The grounds are beautiful. Steve Lydic, grounds
supervisor, does
a super job maintaining the site. I actually ran into him one
day. a
couple of his crewman gave him a "heads-up" that some
crazy guy was
running around talking to trees and trying to wake up the dead
with some
form of periodic ape call. sorry, slight exaggeration there. We
were
glad to get together though for a short time while I was there
and talk
trees.
![oak_sp4.jpg (124517 bytes)](oak_sp4_small.jpg) |
![oak_sp5.jpg (107649 bytes)](oak_sp5_small.jpg)
Large Oak |
They have a nice plot diagram at the website below:
http://www.eriecemeteryassoc.com/erie_cemetery.html
Here's my "interpretation" of some of these plot
sections that may help
to give you a picture of where some of these trees are located:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 25, S = eternal oaks
13, A, B, E, F, G, H, J, L, M = tulip ecstasy
19 = guardian angel oak
28 = cuke heaven
Here's a rundown of site stats:
Species CBH Height Comments
Black walnut 10.7 81.2
Black walnut 9.8 104
Cucumbertree 13.3 72.4 HUGE
burled buttress base, 23ft CBH
at 1.5ft off the ground!
Cucumbertree 12.6 82
Cucumbertree 9.3 83.2
Cucumbertree 14.7 85.2
E. white pine 7.7 83
N. red oak 15.8 71.2
N. red oak 14.2 81.5
N. red oak 13.7 84.8
N. red oak 13.9 85.2
N. red oak 13.8 87.1
N. red oak 15 92.9
N. red oak 15 96.4
Norway spruce 5.8 98.8
Scarlet oak 15.9 92.3 species?,
guardian angel oak-plot
19 above
Sugar maple 10 87.4
Sugar maple 9.1 91.2
Tulipitre 13.3 105.2
Tuliptree 13.7 105.3
Tuliptree 13.3 111.2
Tuliptree 14.2 120.4
Tuliptree 15 121.4
Tuliptree 13.8 122.67
Tuliptree 14.8 123.4
Tuliptree 14.3 130.2
White oak 13.7 75.6
White oak 14.4 81.6
White oak 13.2 81.8
White oak 15.6 82.6
White oak 13.1 90.3
White oak 13.2 91.2
White oak 13.2 93.9
The large "scarlet oak" above was listed in the 1993
PFA big tree pub as
the PA state champ, but darned if I can't find any scarlet oak
characters on it. I've got bark striping and leaf shape like N.
red
oak, but a burled/buttressed base resembling scarlet oaks after
a
chestnut blight infestation. All the buds are out of reach, and
I
haven't been back yet to check acorns. Either way, it's still an
impressive tree at 15.9ft CBH x 84ft spread x 92.3ft high for
304.1 AF
points.
So, if anyone ever has to spend a night over in the Erie area,
and
doesn't have much time to explore, you don't even have to leave
your
vehicle to see this site. Being an Erie native myself, I'm very
proud
that such a site exists right smack dab in the middle of the
city. The
city of Erie is indebted to the long deceased Capt. Low. This
man new
what he was doing.
Dale
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