I set out to explore the last cove at Tamassee Knob that I had
not seen,
but quickly became so distracted by trees in coves that I had
passed
through before that I never reached my destination. A narrow,
north-northeast facing cove contained the greatest
concentration. The
back wall of the cove, witch descends at over 35 degrees from
slightly
over 1600' to 1300' elevation, produces moister conditions
favorable to
white basswood, green ash, northern red oak, tuliptree and black
walnut,
as well as a few silverbell in the midstory.
The next
section of cove
descends more gradually, and the ridges on either side rise less
than 100'
above the stream. Northern red oaks and other hardwoods occur in
the
small flat and slope on one side of the stream while a dense
stand of
tuliptrees cloaks the more recently cut opposing slope.
Continuing
downstream, black oaks and a mix of hickories dominate a more
mature
section of that slope. A large tuliptree stump on the steep
slope, the
stand of slightly younger tuliptrees, and a relatively open
roadbed
looping through the cove all suggest additional disturbance
after the area
was initially cut.
The list below contains trees from multiple coves, but several
more tall
red oaks and black oaks could be added to it just form the cove
described
above. In one section of that cove, the dominance of black oak
and the
frequency of tall individuals surpasses what I have seen the
species
attain in any other area. The location of the stand is also
somewhat
surprising since most of the rich soils around Tamassee Knob do
not stray
that far from steep slopes.
|
Cbh
|
Height
|
Species
|
|
6'5"
|
131.0'
|
Ash, Green
|
|
7'3"
|
116.8'
|
Basswood, White
|
|
7'9"
|
123.5'
|
Basswood, White
|
|
3'10"
|
107.7'
|
Elm, Slippery
|
|
NA
|
129.6'
|
Hickory, Bitternut
|
|
5'10"
|
143.8'
|
Hickory, Bitternut
|
|
7'10"
|
130.5'
|
Hickory, Mockernut
|
|
6'1"
|
116.5'
|
Hickory, Pale
|
|
7'1.5"
|
138.9'
|
Hickory, Pignut
|
|
5'8"
|
123.6'
|
Oak, Black
|
|
5'8"
|
125.1'
|
Oak, Black
|
|
8'2"
|
137.2'
|
Oak, Black
|
|
7'0"
|
138.3'
|
Oak, Black
|
|
8'2"
|
130.5'
|
Oak, Northern Red
|
|
10'2"
|
132.7'
|
Oak, Northern Red
|
|
7'7"
|
137.3'
|
Oak, Northern Red
|
|
10'4"
|
138.2'
|
Oak, Northern Red
|
|
4'2"
|
124.2'
|
Pine, Shortleaf
|
|
5'3.5"
|
89.5'
|
Pine, Table Mountain
|
|
5'9"
|
153.4'
|
Tuliptree
|
|
9'1"
|
158.3'
|
Tuliptree
|
|
9'2"
|
165.0'
|
Tuliptree
|
|
6'3"
|
125.3'
|
Walnut, Black
|
|
6'6.5"
|
127.2'
|
Walnut, Black
|
The tall
bitternut hickories were reassuring to see since the 154' tree
in
Station Cove, a couple of mile to the south, had appeared the
lone tall
tree of the species in the area. One other bitternut in the
stand of
younger tuliptrees has already reached 130', but has a girth of
only
3'9.5". The mockernut hickory was also a present surprise
since I had
seen few, and no tall, individuals of the species at the site.
Similarly,
the tall pale hickories were unexpected. The individual listed
above
exceeds all others from the South Carolina Blue Ridge.
At first, I
mistook the 137' black oak for a northern red oak. The tree has
a more
ascending branch structure and symmetrical crown than the
species
typically displays, and should reach 140' within the next few
years. The
138' black oak, now the second tallest known in the South
Carolina, has a
more open and rounded crown. The table mountain pine is an
isolated
individual probably descended from the small stand of table
mountain pines
growing in poor soils near the top of the knob. The black
walnuts also
rank forth and second in height in the state.
Jess Riddle
|