| Flat
Top Mountain cove, GA |
ecri-@juno.com |
| Jun
30, 2005 08:16 PDT |
The appropriately named Flat Top Mountain rises to approximately
3720' in
the southeastern part of the Cohutta Mountains in northcentral
Georgia.
The level area on top of the mountain was large enough to
support a small
community at one time, but the slopes on all sides drop away
steeply.
Those features may in part account for the fact that the highest
recorded
annual rainfall recorded in Georgia occurred on the mountain,
slightly
over 100". That climate and metasedimentary bedrock
contribute to the
rich coves that occur on the north side of the mountain. Among
those
coves, botanists have recognized Devilsden Branch as an
exceptional
botanical site for decades. Another unnamed cove on the north
side of
the mountain between Williamson Cove and Postelle Creek may also
warrant
some superlatives. Second-growth constitute most of the canopy
throughout the cove, but basswood, white ash, black cherry,
northern red
oak, and yellow buckeye are also common. Yellowwood occurs in
the
midstory, and much of the area has an unusually dense understory.
An
exceptional amount of paw paw mixed with some spicebush forms
the
understory in the upper part of the stand giving way to pure
spicebush in
the lower reaches. As expected from the composition of the woody
layers,
the stand features a diverse herbaceous layer. Unusually
widespread pale
jewel weed and sweet cicely associate with foam flower, black
cohosh,
blue cohosh, may apple, violets, wild ginger, and other species.
In the middle of the cove at around 2700' elevation, an unusual
level
area, perhaps three acres in extent, supports an exceptional
stand of
tuliptrees. Not a single individual of another species reaches
the
canopy, but a few small basswoods and yellowwoods do pierce the
continuous cover of spicebush on the base of the stand. The
composition
of the stand reminds one of old field sites in Smokies, but this
stand
presents a much different appeared due to the crown structure of
the
tuliptrees, sometimes entirely folded over and consistently
asymmetrical.
Those features and bark characteristics suggest the stand
originated
about 125 years ago, older than the surrounding forest, but
little
thinning has occurred. Consequently, the crowns remain narrow
and most
trees in the stands interior only have circumferences of six or
seven
feet, although trees around the stands edge probably reach 10 to
11' cbh.
Trees reach much more impressive heights than circumferences
with any
tree under about 140' being overtopped and likely dying. The
stand
likely contains over a dozen tuliptrees that exceed 150' tall,
as many as
have thus far been found in Georgia, and some could exceed the
current
state height record of 159'. Due to the high density, basal area
probably around 200 ft^2 per acre, and the great height, this
stand may
contain the greatest biomass per unit area of any stand in north
Georgia.
The hardwoods in Sosbee Cove might only be slightly lower, and
white
pine stands in the Chattooga watershed may be able to reach
similar
biomass densities; however, neither likely equals this stand at
this
time.
All of the trees listed below grow on the younger, more steeply
sloped
parts of the cove with the exception of the two tallest
tuliptrees. One
basswood from the stand with, whitish undersides to the leaves,
keyed out
as American basswood, but range maps due not show that species
as
occurring in the area. Black cherry also reaches approximately
125' in
the cove. The taller basswood is the second tallest of the genus
confirmed in Georgia, and the white ash represents a new state
height
record.
Species
Cbh Height
Ash, White
7'7" 137.4'
Basswood, ?
6'7.5" 126.5'
Basswood, ?
4'3" 131.3'
Birch, Black
6'6" 100.3'
Buckeye, Yellow 7'4" 115.5'
Buckeye, Yellow 9'0' ~121.4'
Hickory, Bitternut NA
100.6'
Hickory, Bitternut 5'10"
102.4'
Oak, N. Red
7'2"
123.4'
Tuliptree
NA
132.7'
Tuliptree
7'2" 139.0'
Tuliptree
4'2" ~143' 108:1
HDR
Tuliptree
NA
150.9'
Yellowwood
5'1" NA
Jess Riddle |
|