ENTS
Toady I made a journey to visit and remeasure the National
champion Magnolia tripetala, Umbrella magnolia. Located outside
of New Hope, Pa right on the Delaware river, it grows in the
backyard of an 1816 estate house. The estate has been cut up
from the original 300 acres that William Penn originally
granted, and now sits on one acre. A beautiful home in good
repair with an amazing view of the Delaware river and an amazing
footbridge that crosses the river. The footbridge is about an
eigth of a mile long and is a local attraction. The second owner
was a plant collector/horticulturist and planted the property
properly with many popular species at the time. Starting with
the natives:
David Leigh with the Umbrella Magnolia
Umbrella magnolia - this tree was measured improperly at 6"
in the past. Measuring the largest trunk at 4.5' the cbh is
66" with a height of 48.4' and a min spread of 39' and a
max spread of 54' for 128 AF points. The cbh at 6" is
138". This tree has been the national champion since 1967.
I hope I don't ruin that with my accurate measurements! In 1993
it was 122" cbh @ 6", 50' tall with a 50' avg spread
for 185 AF points. The tree has a cavity, and three main trunks.
An old cable system in the tree ties it to itself, AND a large
cucumber magnolia on the edge of the yard. A no no nowadays.
White Cedar
White cedar (Cham. thyoides)- This tree is now on the neighbors
property, but is part of the original estate. A beautiful single
stem specimen along the driveway.
84" cbh 70.8' tall with a 30' spread for 163 points.
Pecan
Pecan- A beautiful specimen on the same property as the white
cedar. Producing pounds and pounds of nuts, of which I was given
about three pounds of shelled nuts and another pound in husk.
Yum! This tree is 97" cbh 91.3' tall with a symetrical 83'
spread for 209 points.
other natives on the property were:
Black walnut
red oak
scarlet oak
arborvitae
cucumber magnolia
concolor fir
One of the most impressive trees was a large sugar maple that
had to be removed. The owner "saved" the tree by
having the trunk and two major limbs carved into Nike the
goddess of victory. The sculpture stands at about 25-30' tall.
Very cool!
Statue of Nike
The exotic species were also very impressive:
Gingko bilboa
Gingko - this tree is more than likely from the 1876 centennial
celebration in Philadelphia. 192"cbh 100.5' tall with a 87
foot spread for 315 points.
Oriental spruce - 89" cbh 82.5' tall wit a 24' spread for
178 points
Nordmann fir - 94" cbh 69.1' tall 27' spread for 170 points
Mahogany (don't know which one yet) 140" cbh 95.2' tall 54'
spread for 249 points.
star magnolia
saucer magnolia
chinese chesnut (very large cbh)
I ended the day with a trip to the dentist....oh well.
Scott
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