Bob's call to map the 140' pines of Massachusetts got me out to measure a few candidate trees I have been watching. I actually found 4 new trees in that class, at 3 new sites.
#1 and #2 are roadside trees along Avery Brook in Heath. They just entered the 140' class at 140.1' and 140.5', but the 140.1' pine has the additional feature of being much larger than I thought. Crossing the brook, I measured the girth to a whopping 11.75' at 4.5' high. I didn't get the girth of the other, which is a double perched on the banks of the brook. #3 is found in a nice pine grove in Highland Park, in Greenfield. I measured it from 3 different places, all to over 140' but averaging 140.5'h x 7.6'c. I think this is the second 140' pine found in the Connecticut River valley of Massachusetts. A second tree within a few feet of the first measured to 139' x 8.3'c. #4 is located on private land, in Dummerston, Vermont, in a nice drainage leading to the West river. I measured it to 140.0'. In the same cove I found a 120.3' hemlock. I will be going back to that site soon! One additional find to report is a pair of shagbark hickories in Catamount State Forest. The first approximately tied the site record at 113.5' and the second broke the record at 116.0'h x 4.9'c. The find brings the Catamount Rucker index to 116.2. On the debit side of the ledger, I went to Ash Flats to reconfirm the 133' bitternut hickory. Unfortunately I can confirm that it blew over. I did find a 126.7'h x 5.5'c red oak high up the slope above Ash Flats, but saw a lot of oaks, maples, birch, and ash blown down, most of them larger specimens than those left standing. It does seem that in addition to wind and ice we must add soil saturation to the agents of tree mortality. I have been finding lots of blow downs dating from this summer's 6 weeks of rain and saturated soils, as evidenced by finding leaves still attached to the branches and tip up mounds located in obvious collector areas for soil moisture. These have included old, large hardwoods in sheltered cove settings, so they are seeing unusual conditions I guess. -- 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]
