ENTS,

Over the weekend I went to visit my dad for the first time since early
July. I was way overdue. While there he told me some people he knew
that had a nice oak on their property and Sunday we rode out to see
it. Upon arriving we met the property owners, Ben and Susan Bennett
who kindly showed us some their nice trees. Ben is a woodworker who
enjoys crafting items from Eastern Red Cedar and had some interesting
items to show us inside his home.

After visiting inside we went out where he showed us a sizeable cedar
standing in his back yard. I measured it to be 7ft 10In in
circumference and 79.63 feet tall. Nearby was a large cedar stump
where a large tree recently stood. It was largely rotten in the middle
but had an impressive diameter of 42 inches!  That's a pretty decent-
sized cedar! I just wondered how tall it had been.

After measuring and examining the cedar we walked under some nice
pecan trees to the oak in the back yard. It was a beautiful specimen
of White Oak. Nearly perfect in form and very healthy. It's spread may
have been wider than it's height. I have not as of yet learned how to
measure tree spread. The oak is 13ft 2 1/2in in circumference and
82.89 feet tall.

While measuring the cedar I noticed an impressive Pecan tree nearby.
In fact it is the largest pecan I have seen to date. Dad said he had
seen some bigger. The pecan is 11ft in circumference and 103.04 feet
tall. I would be curious to know what the record pecan tree is.

After measuring the pecan tree Susan led us to her turkey pens. Dad
raises poultry and got a couple of turkeys from Susan a while back. A
large oak stump was inside the large pen and Susan said the tree had
been cut down before they lived there. Pieces of what had been a large
tree lay nearby. Just outside the pen is a decent-sized Tuliptree
( Yellow Poplar ). The oak stump inside the pen was a whopping 4 1/2
feet in diameter!

Just outside the pen was a stump of what had been a really big
Tuliptree. Though not rare here, it seems that Tuliptree is not as
common here as in the mountains of North Carolina while Sweetgum is
more common here in Lowndesville. The poplar stump was 4ft 7 inches in
diameter. Damn, I would have loved to seen it alive. Judging by the
stump it had been cut down a fair number of years before.

The last tree measured before leaving was a decent-sized Post Oak near
the driveway. It reminded me of Howard Hannah's big Post oak which is
located only a couple of miles away. Dad told me that the Hannah Oak
had lost some limbs and may be dying, I will have to go back and check
it out later. The Bennett Post Oak is 9ft 4 1/2in in circumference and
78 feet tall. Like Howard's oak it has accompaning ressurrection
ferns.

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/south_carolina/hannah/hannah_oak.htm

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/south_carolina/abbeville_sc.htm

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/south_carolina/sumter/sumter_national_forest_sc.htm


I forgot my camera back at dads so I have no photographs to show but
these were some nice trees!

I gracefully thank Ben and Susan for introducing these great trees and
for their hospitality.


James Parton



Eastern Red Cedar    7' 10" cbh          79' 63" tall

White Oak               13' 2 1/2" cbh     82' 89" tall

Pecan                     11' 0 " cbh         103' 04" tall

Post Oak                 9' 4 1/2" cbh      78' 00ft
tall.