| Scott
Community Park - "Cuke Heaven" |
Dale
J. Luthringer |
| Apr
12, 2004 14:48 PDT |
Bob, Tom, Bruce, Will
On March 19 I took a long awaited trip to try to confirm a small
old
growth plot in Scott Community Park located in Erie, PA,
Millcreek
Township, Erie County. This site is a very small relic old
growth
forest along the southern shore Lake Erie escarpments. The area
is
adjacent to Presque Isle State Park and encompasses both private
and
township owned property.
The escarpment height is not very high in this area, maybe close
to
60-80ft. Soils are very sandy here, possibly 30% or more is sand
with a
direct northerly exposure. The site actually starts east and
almost
adjacent to the main road that goes into Presque Isle State Park
(Sterretania Rd.) and is sandwiched in between the ridge area
between
the Sarah Coyne Campground and the soon to be erected new
Presque Isle
Center. It continues east from this point at least 0.53 miles to
the
eastern border of Scott Community Park encompassing a rough
total area
of about 9.6acres. The massive crowns of some of the ancient
trees that
are located here can actually be viewed from a parking area
across
Presque Isle Bay in Presque Isle State Park.
I've driven past this site many times since I was a child, but
never
took the opportunity to visit this area on foot until last
month. I was
able to get a brief glimpse from my vehicle from an apartment
complex
just south of this site during February. Since I previously
broke my
ankle in November, I was unable to get a closer look at the
impressive
Am. beech crowns until mid-March.
There is an impressive array of large N. red oaks, Am. beech,
and HUGE
cucumbertrees here (at least to my Pennsylvania forest
accustomed eyes).
I've never seen so many large and old cucumbertrees in one spot
before
in Pennsylvania. The oldest cucumbertrees in this here should
easily
surpass 200 years old. I have hopes that 300 years is quite
possible.
A few select large N. red oak and tuliptrees will likely break
150
years. There are a few scattered hemlock that should go over 200
years,
as well as a number of large Am. beech. and yes Bob, we even got
a
cottonwood for you that will go into the 12x100 Club.
There are two very impressive cucumbertrees about 200 yards in
from
Sterretania Rd and only about 25ft apart. These are probably the
oldest
cukes in the stand. Both are almost identical in girth and
height.
Both trees have balding bark at least 6-10ft up the tree. The
bark then
turns into a deeply ridged characteristic almost the entire
length of
the each trunk which are limbless until about 65ft up. Both
trunks are
burled with an incredibly gnarled crown. I'm hoping these are
the cukes
that might make it to 300 year range. Maybe we ought to call
these
trees the Presque Isle Sentinels? They really are near the
gateway to
the park. Both resemble the monster cuke in the Forest Cathedral
N.A.
at Cook Forest State Park that reaches 11.6ft CBH x 111.2ft
high.
One cucumbertree was so large that I thought it should at least
be
nominated in the new PA Big Trees publishing that should go out
within
the next year. I first observed this tree from the top of the
escarpment and thought it was nice. CBH should go at least 10ft,
maybe
11ft I thought. Well, needless to say, my CBH scale still needs
a bit
of work, especially when the tree almost reaches 15ft CBH! At
14.9ft
CBH x 54.2ft avg crown x 112.9ft high, it is the largest single
stem
forest grown cucumbertree I've ever observed. Until this point,
the fat
cucumber along the south bank of the Clarion River in Cook
Forest was my
personal largest at 13ft CBH x 110.2ft high. The Scott Community
Park
cuke just goes over 300 big tree points to 305.3. There are
larger
circumference specimens in field settings, but I think we'd be
hard
pressed to find larger forest grown specimens in the state.
Currently,
the tree is listed at #3 in the state, but the other trees have
not been
re-measured in awhile:
Chester County cucumbertree - 329 points in 1999
Bucks County cucumbertree - 309 points in 1992
Tom, Bruce - what are some of the max dimensions you guys have
come
across for Magnolia acuminata in NY and OH?
Even though this site is small and packed in between two
campgrounds, I
still think it holds a wealth of information that would take
Erie County
back into pre-settlement days during the time of the once
flourishing
Eriez Indians. I wonder if certain folks actually know what
they're
sitting on here? It is a small exceptional area directly
adjacent to
the city of Erie that millions of people drive by every year.
maybe it's
just better left that way.
Here's a rough visual estimate of the ages of some of the older
tree
species:
Species Est.
Age
Am. beech 225
Black cherry 175
Cucumbertree 250+
E. hemlock 225
N. red oak 150
Sugar maple 150
Tuliptree 150
Many CBH measurements were unrecorded due to their
inaccessibility or
that I was often shooting trees at the bottom of the escarpment.
3/19/04 and 4/9/04 data are combined as follows:
Species CBH Height Comments
Am. beech N/A 83.7
Am. beech N/A 86.2
Am. beech N/A 92.6
Am. beech N/A 101.8
Am. beech 9.5 102.7
Black cherry 7 84
Black cherry 9.4 103.7
Black cherry 8.1 105.1+
Black cherry N/A 107.9
Black cherry N/A 111.7
Cottonwood 11.2 103.9
Cottonwood 12.2 112.8 new
12x100 club
Cucumbertree N/A 96.1
Cucumbertree N/A 99.1
Cucumbertree N/A 99.6
Cucumbertree 9.8 100.2
Cucumbertree 9.4 103.6
Cucumbertree 10.9 103.6 ancient
cuke, west tree (25ft fm
"east tree")
Cucumbertree 6.8 105.1+
Cucumbertree 10.9 106.6 ancient
cuke, east tree
Cucumbertree 13.1 104.7 new
12x100 club (42 6.813N x
80.8690W)
Cucumbertree 9.7 108.1+
Cucumbertree 10.7 108.1+
Cucumbertree 11.5 108.6
Cucumbertree 14.1 108.6+
new 12x100 club (42 6.843N x 80
8.791W)
Cucumbertree 14.9 112.9 3rd
largest in the PA?
E. hemlock N/A 72.2
E. hemlock N/A 73.6
E. hemlock N/A 78.9
E. hemlock N/A 81.3
E. hemlock N/A 83.5
E. hemlock N/A 87.6
E. hemlock N/A 93.6
E. hemlock 8.4 96.9
E. hemlock N/A 97.4
N. red oak 11+ 81.3
N. red oak N/A 85.7
N. red oak N/A 92.3
N. red oak 14.7 94.4+ along
Presque Isle Bay (gorgeous
oak)
N. red oak 14 99.1+ will
probably break 100ft,
adjacent to campground at bottom of escarpment
N. red oak 13.8 102.7 new
12x100 club (42 6.761N x 80
9.098W)
N. red oak 9.9 116.7
Sugar maple N/A 91.8
Sugar maple N/A 116.5
Tuliptree 10.3 93.1+
Tuliptree N/A 113.4
Tuliptree N/A 116
Tuliptree 11.4 116.6
Tuliptree 9.7 117.6
Tuliptree 8.6 118.8
Tuliptree 10.6 122
White ash N/A 100.7
White ash 7.2 105.1+
White oak 11.6 97.8
Yellow birch N/A 62.6
Yellow birch 5.6 81.5
Scott Community Park Rucker Index
Species CBH Height RI
Tuliptree 10.6 122 107.93
N. red oak 9.9 116.7
Sugar maple N/A 116.5
Cucumbertree 14.9 112.9
Cottonwood 12.2 112.8
Black cherry N/A 111.7
White ash 7.2 105.1
Am. beech 9.5 102.7
E. hemlock N/A 97.4
Yellow birch 5.6 81.5
What the trees lack in height, they make up for in girth. That's
5 more
trees for the 12x100 club, possibly even 7 after finding a clear
view to
the top. There is another oak species in here, but I am unclear
of its
ID at the moment. Looks like I'll have to wait for leaf-out. We
may
get a RI of 110 out of this site, but I don't see much higher
than that.
Oh yes, remember to bring your tic repellant if you come here.
All of
the Lake Erie Escarpment sites I've visited so far abound with
these
free-loaders. one managed to find the prize on the 'Jack
Russell',
didn't have time to engorge though. I must have picked off a
couple
dozen between the both of us.
Dale
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