| Laurel
Fork |
Jess |
| May
05, 2002 10:39 PDT |
Laurel
Fork flows into Lake Jocassee in the mountains of northern South
Carolina. The stream is best known for the large cascade at its
mouth and
the beds of Shortia galaxifolia (Oconee bells) that grow in
flats along the
creek. The flats also support white pine stands with hemlock
understory
and hardwood stand dominated by tuliptrees. These forests and
the stands
on the surrounding slopes are generally young since the
watershed has been
heavily cut for the past few decades. The watershed was owned by
Duke
Power although the state may now own most of the land. The area
set aside
as a state heritage preserve on two headwater streams now
supports some of
the most interesting forest in the watershed. One stream
contains hemlocks
that were left when the area was originally logged while the
other stream
supports a dense second growth tuliptree stand.
Species Cbh Height
Basswood 5'6" 132.3'
Hemlock NA 134.4'
Locust, Black 5'5" 129.0'
Oak, N. Red 6'7" 143.8'
Pine, White 6'0.5" 134.0'
Pine, White 10'3" 149.4'
Sweetgum NA 126.3'
Sweetgum 7'4" 134.2'
Sycamore 7'10" ~132'
Tuliptree 7'8" 152.9'
All of the hardwoods with the
exception of the sycamore and the taller
sweetgum are in the same cove. The measurement on the basswood
was rushed,
but shooting vertically with the rangefinder puts the height at
more than
128'. The hemlock height is typical for older individuals in the
area, and
circumferences are generally in the eight to 12' range. The
target I had
on the northern red oak's trunk was not reflective, but the
height should
otherwise be good to the limit of my equipment's accuracy. Most
of the
pines in the creek side flats are under 9' cbh and in the 130s.
There are
probably several other tuliptrees in the stand of comparable
height.
Jess Riddle |
|