Panther
Creek flows into the Tugaloo River at the notch in the eastern
border of Georgia. The only portion of the Brevard Belt with
mountainous
terrain in Georgia is located along the lower section of the
creek. Coves
in that area support varied forest types. Coves may have
chestnut oak
canopies with Rhododendron minor under-stories, hemlock canopies
and
Rhododendron major under-stories, or mixed hardwood canopies
with open
under-stories and dense herbaceous layers. The coves have been
set aside
as a botanical area due to the great diversity in them.
Rain limited our ability to move
around in the area and measure
heights, but there is an abundance of trees worth measuring in
the rich
coves. Tuliptree was the primary canopy tree in the cove we
spent the most
time, but we did not have a good opportunity to measure any of
them.
Yellow buckeye was the most prolific mid-story tree in the cove.
The
under-story was generally open, but american hornbeam and paw
paw were
present. Blue cohosh and may apple were common ground cover
plants along
with a host of other herbaceous species. Other canopy species
included
white ash, black walnut, bitternut hickory, white basswood,
American beech,
sweetgum, white oak, and either American or slippery elm. We are
not
familiar enough with the species to be able to distinguish
between the two
elms when twigs are inaccessible. Redbud was occasionally found
in the
coves but was much more common in the bottomland along Panther
Creek.
In the list below CACO=bitternut
hickory, CECA=redbud, FAGR=American
beech, FRAM=white ash, JUCI=butternut, JUNI=black walnut, TIHE=white
basswood, UL=elm.
Sp. Cbh Height
CACO 5'5.5" 111.0'
CECA 3'2"
CECA 2'11" 55.5'
CECA 1'7.5" 58.4'
FAGR 8'9"
FRAM 8'7.5" ~127.9'
JUCI 4'0"
JUCI 3'6.5" ~85.6'
JUNI 5'5" 117'+
TIHE NA 120.4'
UL? 12'0" 130.1'
The trees in the table range from
approximately 700' elevation to
approximately 900'. Other bitternut hickories in the area are
almost
certainly taller. The crown of the largest cbh redbud is dying
back, but
dead limbs may extend higher than the other redbuds in the
table. A
subsequent visit should turn up multiple black walnuts over
120'. The
sweetgums may exceed 130', which is remarkable for the species
outside of
floodplain sites. Tuliptree has a good chance of exceeding 150'.
The
redbud, butternut, black walnut, and elm are all the tallest we
know of for
their species in GA. The main rich cove is one of the tallest
hardwood
coves in the state, and, unlike other coves of comparable
height, the
forest does not approach being a pure tuliptree stand.
Jess & Doug Riddle
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