| National
Champion Tuliptree |
Darian
Copiz |
| Jan
24, 2006 13:52 PST |
ENTS,
This past weekend I visited the national champion tuliptree in
Bedford,
Virginia. The tree is in a little park in a neighborhood at the
edge of
town. A "no trespassing" sign adorns the chain link
fence around the
tree. The tree has a massive bole which is partially dead and
about 8'
high. Multiple unimpressive stems rise from it. Overall the tree
is not
particularly inspiring. Although the trunk is big, it is short
and
fails to awe - this may also be the case since you are not
allowed to
get close to it. The height is listed as 111 feet. I measured
111.2
feet. I took pictures, but they were slides since my digital
camera is
broken. I would not be unhappy to see another tree take its
position.
Darian |
| RE:
National Champion Tuliptree ENTS |
Will
Blozan |
| Jan
25, 2006 04:47 PST |
Darian,
That height is one adjusted by AF after Bob Leverett and I
measured it with
a laser. They dropped it from 146'.
I am not inspired by the tree either and given its multiple
stemmed form
should be dropped from the list. There are far better
representatives of
tuliptree to choose from.
Will
|
| RE:
National Champion Tuliptree ENTS |
Robert
Leverett |
| Jan
25, 2006 05:13 PST |
Darian,
The Bedford tuliptree has a long story. After
we tried to get the
state coordinator to recognize the error in the height
measurement, Will
got a letter from an irate widow. I guess her husband was the
one who
got the tree saved. Standing one's ground on measurement
accuracy can be
a dangerous business.
I would third the judgment on the Bedford
tree. Compared to a giant
like the Sag Branch tuliptree or the Mill Creek Monster, the
Bedford
Poplar is a severe let down and it illustrates the problem of
trying to
choose an overall species champion using the American Forest
formula.
Bob
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