Mike: There are several areas around Shelburne and Conway that have native patches of red pine with one of the largest individual trees I ever measured located on my parents place on Bardwells Ferry Road. Last I knew the tree was almost 30" DBH and it was in the middle of a hillside that was heavy to red pine. The bark on the tree was thick and had large plates more reminiscent of a ponderosa pine. Most places with red pines are dry or rocky sites on land that was heavily grazed. I'm sure that Michele Wilson has encountered several patches of native red pine in her West County travels. In a message dated 8/28/2009 5:06:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Bob, In this area, you almost never see red pine seedling/sapling regeneration. The only places I have seen it under plantations are a few areas where there is just a strip of red pine with a lot of sunlight getting through and there is absolutely no understory competition. Did you note any red pine seedling regeneration on Mt. Tom? What does it take to facilitate red pine regeneration? Fire to kill off the competition and exposing mineral soil? Does native red pine in MA only occur on the poor growing sites like Mt. Tom? While declining red pine plantations should have some silvicultural treatment, native red pine is pretty rare in this state so it’s probably a good idea to protect these sites. When I marked a 40 acre lot in Petersham last year I noted 4 pole size red pines (6-12 inches in DBH). Three of the red pines were blown part way over and had grown banana shaped probably from the 1938 hurricane. The fourth one was relatively straight and had a decent crown so I left that and marked the other 3 that were on the way out. Could these have been native red pine or did they seed in from the nearby plantation that’s on Harvard Forest land? Well that’s about 100 yards away so I don’t know. I’ll have to go back there and try and date those trees now to see if they predate the plantation era (1930’s). I like red pine. The bark is extremely attractive but unfortunately red pine is highly susceptible to severe snow and ice damage. Every once in a while I’ll see a decent solitary red pine in the middle of a mixed stand and wonder how the heck did this tree get here? Would someone plant a single red pine tree way back when the old farm was abandoned? There are many other anomalies I see in the woods which makes my job interesting! Mike _www.northquabbinforestry.com_ (http://www.northquabbinforestry.com/) -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [_mailto:[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) ] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:04 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Belchetz-Swenson, Sarah; Blaich, Tanya; CAMPANILE, ROBERT; Carr, Robert; Davis, John; Dittmer, Paul; Duke, Carol; Gilmour, Carol; Heller, Sharl; Hurley, Claudia; Kaiser, Amy; Loomis, Rob ; Matteson, Mollie; Ricci, Heidi; Ryan, Mike; Seale, Doug; Stahle, David; Weiss, Nancy; Weil, Phoebe; Zelazo, Timothy; Neil, Rick Subject: [ENTS] Mt Tom and red pines ENTS, Yesterday, Monica and I took a friend for a walk on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail along the basalt cliffs of Mount Tom in the Connecticut River Valley. Mount Tom is volcanic and is known for its diversity. I will forego the usual deluge of statistics and go right to the hike. The climb up onto the ledges is fairly steep, but worth every ounce of sweat. The great majority of hikers go to the cliff region of Mount Tom for the views. So do I, but also for the vegetation and one species in particular, red pine. Image#1-RdPinesLineUp.jpg: This image shows red pines along the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. These are the first pines you see when intercepting the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail from the Quarry Trail, which is north of Whiting Peak. Image#2-RedPinesAreBeautiful.jpg: This image looks looks down through a cluster of red pines into the valley below. Image#3-RedPinesAndSnag.jpg: The red pine strip goes for half a mile or more with intermittent pines hugging the basalt ledges. There is a little regeneration. Image#4-Guardians2.jpg: This is another view of the cluster. Very photogenic. In addition to the old red pines, the basalt formation is photogenic. Take red and white pines, basalt ledges, and the valley beyond and Mount Tom becomes a photographer's bonanza. Image#5-BasaltAndValley.jpg: The basalt formations stand in bold relief to the valley and Berkshire Hills beyond. Image#6-BasaltAndValley2.jpg: This image shows the surface structure of the basalt. 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
