| Tallest
Hardwoods |
Will
Blozan |
| Nov
10, 2004 15:52 PST |
Yo, Dale and Tom,
I am totally confident that the tallest hardwoods are in
second-growth or
younger stands of natural origin. Seriously-- ignore the OG for
tall trees
(except maybe white pine and hemlock) and look at the little
guys. This is a
lesson Burl-belly is now learning ;). I measured a grove in the
Smokies last
weekend that will have a Rucker well over 130'. Two species of
trees reach
160' (all hardwood) and the canopy dominants will easily average
over 150'.
I took some core samples to age the stand. Guess what? 66 years
at BH. I
know of 170' trees ~the same age (tuliptree). I think that
50-60% of the top
10 height records for the Smokies are in second-growth
hardwoods.
I will post a full report soon, but the Smokies can now lay
claim to a 167'
white ash and a 141' green ash. White basswood is a new inductee
to the "150
Club", and sycamore is close to solidly occupying the 160'
class (not just a
single tree as is the current representative). All are young
trees and still
growing. White ash will be in the 170' club in 3-4 years, as may
be
sycamore. Black locust can do 160+ feet in less than half as
many years.
My question is where are the 180' tuliptrees? If a 70 year old
tree can
reach 170', why can't 180' be reached by 120 years? Or 300
years? Or 600
years?
I have no Earthly idea!
Will
|
| RE:
Tallest
Hardwoods |
Dale
J. Luthringer |
| Nov
10, 2004 17:31 PST |
Will,
Advice taken. This pattern was beginning to be self evident in
the
newly found Maple Drive old growth
area. A couple of skinny black
cherry rockets approaching the upper 120's, and Am. beech
appeared to be
following that pattern.
Dale
|
| RE:
Tallest
Hardwoods |
tpdig-@ysu.edu |
| Nov
11, 2004 11:04 PST |
Will, Dale, et al.
Yep, younger growth is definitely the spot for the tallest
hardwoods (some
exceptions of course). THE two killer tall tree spots in Zoar
are among the
youngest beyond-stem-exclusion groves; just over the hump into
maturity, but a
long way from late-successional. Specifically, the
downstream/river edge
portions of Skinny Dip and Elm Terraces. These two river
terraces offer nice
chronosequences, with most of the gnarly old growth upstream
and/or tucked along
the canyon wall, and really impressive transitional groves
downstream and nearer
to the river. Vigorous middle-aged tulip trees and sycamores
seem to be driving
other species upward in these areas. Skinny Dip extends way out
into a
pronounced river meander, and even has well demarcated stranded
river banks
marking the transitions. How cool is that? Skinny Dip has a
Rucker Index of
130.7', sure to rise by a foot or so because terrace-champion
trees may not have
all been identified. BTW, Skinny Dip Terrace measures only 9
acres! Last
weekend's foray into the younger and more disturbed South Branch
Canyon leads me
to believe other height champions may await discovery.
So many trees...
Tom
|
| RE:
Tallest
Hardwoods |
Robert
Leverett |
| Nov
11, 2004 2:47 PM |
Tom,
Will, Dale, et al:
The fairly youthful forests of MTSF add to the
examples of young and
tall, but I'm reluctant to go too far don into youth as opposed
to early
to middle adulthood. Here's a review of Mohawk's champs graded
by age.
The ages are slightly conservative.
Species Hgt Growth
Rate Age
White Pine 165.4 ft Fast >140
White ash 147.4 ft Slow >180
(probably over 200)
Sugar maple 133.1 ft Dying back >180
(maybe around 200)
Hemlock 131.0 ft Slow >250
(could be closer to 300)
N. red oak 130.6 Fast 130
(cored)
Beech 130.0 Dying
back >175
Bitternut 128.4 ???? >100
Bigtooth A. 127.7 Slow >90
A. basswood 125.5 Slow >120
Black Cherry 125.4 ???? ?????
In the case of flood plain trees, greatest
height may be reached
earlier than 100 years, but the mountain trees up this way
appear to
reach greatest height after 100 years of age. Regardless, the
greatest
heights are generally reached before onset of the old growth
phase, but
not before a hundred years.
Bob
|
| RE:
Tallest
Hardwoods |
Dale
J. Luthringer |
| Nov
11, 2004 16:39 PST |
Bob,
Good points. I'd estimate the age of Cook's tallest as follows:
Species Height Est. Age
E. white pine 182 250
E. hemlock 145.7 350
Black cherry 140 200
Tuliptree 136.6 150
White ash 128.3 150
White oak 126.8 225
Red maple 126 175
Am. beech 124.4 115
Cucumbertree 123.1 200
N. red oak 122.9 ? (never saw it-measured by
Leverett & Diggins)
I wouldn't call any of the trees fast growers. Most are slow,
<4"/year,
whereas the record white pine and hemlock may put on just over
4"/year
depending on growing conditions. It's interesting how our
fastest
growers are also conifers and probably our oldest specimens on
this
list.
Dale
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