| Sosbee
Cove, GA |
ecri-@juno.com |
| Jul
13, 2005 19:31 PDT |
Ridges jutting north
from Slaughter Mountain (4315') in northeast
Georgia outline Sosbee Cove, which contains what is likely
Georgia's most
accessible rich cove forest. A short loop trail spreads out into
the
cove from a pull-off on state highway 180, which slices through
the cove
at 3200' elevation. The slopes immediately below the road
support
simultaneously the most and least disturbed forest in the cove;
a couple
remnant buckeyes and several remnant tuliptrees with crinkly
crowns stand
amidst a tall forest of tuliptrees that appear slightly over a
hundred
years old, somewhat older than typically encountered in north
Georgia.
Cutting directly through the center of that forest, a power line
right-of-way completely changes the complexion of the forest.
Within the
right-of-way, many species of herbaceous plants and vines form a
head
high tangle. Adjacent areas that can still be considered forest
floor
support similarly diverse communities dominated by sweet cicely,
meadow
rue, blue cohosh and false solomon's seal. Spicebush intervene
between
those species and the tuliptree dominated canopy that bitternut
hickory,
black cherry, white basswood, northern red oak, yellow buckeye,
and even
a black walnut complete.
Three state champion trees now grow in the cove. Curiously, the
heights
listed for the more recent nominations, a northern red oak and a
tuliptree, appear quite accurate, but the girths were
overstated. The
tuliptree's bell-bottomed base and the substantial slopes that
all of the
tree grow on probably account for most of the discrepancies in
circumference. As of July 2nd, the northern red oak was
14'6" cbh, and
an earlier winter measurement put the trees height at 124.0'.
Measurements taken at the same times recorded the tuliptree at
17'10" cbh
and 153.2' tall. The third record tree in the cove, a yellow
buckeye,
has held it's title the longest thanks in large part to a
15'6"
circumference. Four measurements on July 2nd, probably
representing
multiple tops, gave heights ranging from 127.2' to 129.4'. The
tree's
broad dome of foliage could have easily hidden a slightly higher
top.
By the ranking system proposed a few months ago based on a
species known
potential within a geographic area, the northern red oak would
receive
182 points (percent), the tuliptree 184 points, and the buckeye
189
points. Those numbers are scaled against maximum dimensions
verified by
ENTS within Georgia. Comparing the same trees against largest
known
dimensions for the species anywhere yields 148 pts, 156 pts, and
173 pts
respectively. The latter numbers help to explain why the yellow
buckeye
is probably the most impressive of the three.
Some quick, steep angle measurements yielded the following
heights for
other tuliptrees in the cove: 153.7', 144.2', 153.4', and
153.4'. The
heights for the first and last trees are almost certainly not to
their
actual tops.
Jess Riddle |
|