Folks,
With respect to the 40 inch striped maple, I meant CBH instead of DBH; i.e. circumference, not diameter. My brain went into idling mode - something it increasingly does. While on the subject, the largest striped maple I've ever measured was 42 inches CBH. It grew in an old growth area of the Green Mountains called the Cape. While circumferences were large there, heights were short - 30 to 40 feet at the most. Where do the premier striped maples grow? In the Great Smokies of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, Will Blozan has measured striped maple to 77 feet in height. That number is just off the charts, but striped maples between 60 and 70 feet tall do occur in the wet, mature forests of the southern Appalachians. That is where the champions are found. Nonetheless, the 60-foot specimens of the mature and old-growth areas of the Berkshires are nothing to sneeze about. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected], "Nancy Weiss" <[email protected]> Cc: "Timothy Zelazo" <[email protected]>, "John Davis" <[email protected]>, "Paul Dittmer" <[email protected]>, "Sharl Heller" <[email protected]>, "Claudia Hurley" <[email protected]>, "Amy Kaiser" <[email protected]>, "Laurie Sanders & Fred Morrison" <[email protected]>, "Mike Ryan" <[email protected]>, "Bill Williams" <[email protected]>, "Laura Stransky" <[email protected]>, "FAYE SCHRATER" <[email protected]>, "Richard White" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 9:20:25 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [ENTS] Re: A good day in the field Joe, As you've no doubt deduced by now, a behind-the-scene motive of mine in presenting these forest images on the ENTS list is to entice better photographers than I am into visiting idyllic Berkshire forest sites with me. It is my increasing belief that exceptional forest sites and features need to be captured on film for posterity before climate change, forest policy, disease, etc. claim out champions and reduce exceptional forest sites to mere memories. The direct benefit of being a 'forest snob' (I clearly am that) is that I spend most of my time in the truly exceptional forest sites. I abandon unexceptional places pretty quickly. But other than those who accompany me, and with a few other exceptions, not many people visit the exceptional places - or if they do, their 'snob eye' isn't sharp enough to distinguish the nice from the exceptional - exceptional for Massachusetts, I mean. In my self-appointed mission, I'm struggling to get good pictures because while I may have an intuitive feeling for fairly artistic shots, as recognized by my friend Don Bertolette, I have simple equipment and only the most rudimentary understanding of the features of the camera that could be employed to capture difficult scenes. The job calls for someone with greater skills and experience. For example, the three attached images represent my attempt to capture the extraordinary rock and rock-tree scenes on Todd Mountain. I flubbed most shots badly. The challenge of photographing green, on green, on green with dabbles of gray and brown was too much for me. To put an even finer point to my lament, yesterday, when exiting the Trees of Peace Grove, I decided to check on a favored striped maple. It is fairly slender, but not small. Most people who pass it misidentify it. It would appear large to people who recognize the species, but likely they would not look up, except to ID the tree. Only a tree nut like me (and others on the list) would take further notice of it. But what should we notice? Holy Molly, as Dale would say, that sucker soars. I remeasured it and its upper leaves are 66 vertical feet above its base! There may be a leaf or two at 67 feet, making it one of 4 striped maples in Mohawk that I've measured to over 60 feet in height. All of us routinely see the species in the woods. It typically struts its stuff at girths of 12 to 18 inches and heights of 25 to 45 feet as typical maximums. People are often very impressed when they see those dimensions. Well, in the Hopper of Greylock, I've measured specimens to 40 inches DBH. In Mohawk, I've made it to 39 inches. I've measured striped maple to 54 feet in the Adirondacks, about the same in the Catskills, and commonly 30 to 45 feet elsewhere, but haven't broke 60 feet anywhere in the Northeast except in Mohawk and Monroe State Forests. I'm sure sites in NY and PA have striped maples in the 60-foot height class, but not many. Joe, I'd love to capture the verticality of striped maple in our forest reserves, but I have no idea of how to photographically capture what my eye sees with the species, other than its large, bright green leaves and elegant striped bark. Both these features are evident up close. We don't need to search for the biggest or tallest to photograph its leaves and bark. But what if we want to capture it in its full glory, capture its extraordinary canopy achievement in areas of mature forest? Can that be done? Bob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
