Whitewater River white pine    ecri-@juno.com
   Aug 24, 2005 08:45 PDT 
ENTS:

My dad and I recently returned to the Whitewater River Gorge on the NC-SC
state line to take additional measurements on a huge white pine growing
there. Earlier forays into the partially logged, high rainfall site put
the tree at 15'3" cbh and 146.5'. A more careful positioning of the base
now gives circumferences of 15'9" @ 3'3.5", 14'10.5" @ 4'6", and 13'5" @
8'7". Lower circumferences could not be obtained due to duff buildup
around the base and 4'11" difference between high and low sides of the
tree. That difference results from the tree growing on an approximately
40 degree, rhododendron and mountain laurel covered slope within 50' of
the alluvial flats along the river. The tree rises over black birch, red
maple, eastern hemlocks, and fraser magnolia, and spreads 52' (56' long)
with large, relatively straight limbs. The crown structure and bark
characteristics suggest the tree is around 150 years old, but it has
already accumulated enough points, 338, to be a South Carolina state
champion. The fairly rapid taper of the lower trunk indicates the tree
will not be in the running for largest white pine in the southern
Appalachians, but it still probably exceeds 900 ft^3, and may reach 1000
ft^3.

A handful of other trees that were missed on previous trips to the area
appeared significantly tall this time. All of those trees grow along the
trail that passes through both second growth and only slightly disturbed
forest in the flats along the river as well as older chestnut oak pitch
pine forest. A dwarf rhododendron (Rhododendron minus) on the river's
edge reached 17.95', a record for the species, on a 9" cbh trunk. A pair
of sourwoods, possibly growing from the same root system, have reached
89.4' and 89.7' with circumferences of 3'7" and 3'2" respectively, record
heights for SC. Nearby grows a 3'9" x 104.5' persimmon; individuals in
the Congaree NP dwarf that tree, but the height is exceptional for the
mountains. The tree's twin had recently fallen and measured 104.3' on
the ground. A chinquapin in the drier forest away from the river is
30.2' tall and 12" cbh, but will likely succumb to chestnut blight soon.

Jess & Doug Riddle
Re: Whitewater River white pine    ecri-@juno.com
   Aug 25, 2005 12:08 PDT 

Bob.

That's correct. The tree might actually be a few feet taller than
listed, but it was unlikely we would have been able to improve on the
earlier wintertime measurement. The tree looks well under 3.5' dbh by
45' up the trunk. I can send you a picture of the lower trunk if you're
interested.

Jess
 
Jess,

    I take it that you didn't come up with a new height determination for
the pine and that the rapid taper you mentioned is why you would drop it
to under 1000 cubes. Sounds reasonable.

Bob
RE: Whitewater River white pine    Robert Leverett
   Aug 25, 2005 12:34 PDT 

Jess:

   Thanks. That would be appreciated. I think I'd like to collect images
of all the trees we model. Maybe we can exhibit rates of taper in a
wbsite display. As indicated in a previous e-mail, On Saturday, I plan
to model the Tecumseh tree in the Elders Grove in MTSF. I also plan to
take more measurements of Saheda while I'm there. At this point, I'm
guessing that after Big Bertha died, Tecumseh took over as the largest
volume single-stemmed pine in MTSF (Big Bertha had 3 trunks). However at
12.1 feet in circumference and 140 feet in height, Sister Bertha is in
the same league as Tecumseh and Saheda.

   As you might expect, the contest that I'm sneakily edging toward is
confirming the largest volume white pine in MTSF. I'm now sufficiently
satisfied with the accuracy of the RD 1000 to trust the diameter
measurements. A consistent measurement protocal has yet to be developed.
I keep thinking of things I should have done.

Bob