Beth & Barry, To the best of my knowledge poison ivy is native to Western North Carolina but a " disturbance " plant it may be. It often grows profusely at forest edges, like multiflora rose, and in areas of treefall. People are usually the biggest disturbers of the forest so it makes sense that it would proliferate near populated areas. I don't see it much in old-growth forests. Maybe it is because they are relatively undisturbed and a thicker forest canopy shades the sun more completely. Old growth stands often have treefalls though. Maybe old- growth stands have too acidic of soils?
Input? Jess? James Parton On Jan 2, 1:32 am, Beth Koebel <[email protected]> wrote: > Maybe poison ivy is a distribance plant > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 1, 2010, at 23:48, Barry Caselli <[email protected]> wrote: > > That mystery plant I've seen somewhere before, but not here I know. > As for poison ivy, it's considered to be non-native here. They say that the > Pine Barrens is normally too acidic for it to thrive. But it can be found in > populated areas, and in ghost towns and other areas of past human disturbance. > Barry > > --- On Fri, 1/1/10, James Parton <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: James Parton <[email protected]> > Subject: [ENTS] The Ramble Grove_Asheville NC > To: "ENTS" <[email protected]> > Date: Friday, January 1, 2010, 9:35 PM > > ENTS, > > Today I finally got back to do some measuring of a nice White Pine grove that > I found while on another hike back in January 2009. The grove is located > between the Blue Ridge Parkway and Hendersonville Rd ( Hwy 25 ) near where > the parkway crosses over 25. I call it the Ramble Grove because of the nearby > Ramble housing development located nearby. > > http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/20090125-b... > > The grove is dominated by Eastern White Pine but also contains Tuliptree and > Pitch Pine with American Holly as an understory tree. A few oaks and > shortleaf pines are found here too, especially near the borders of the grove. > Large Poison Ivy vines also climb to great heights into the trees. I found > one huge vine that was two feet in circumference! Why do some forests have > large Poison Ivy vines while others lack Poison Ivy all together? Poison Ivy > seems rare in most older growth forests I visit while it seems more common in > younger forests. Especially near populated areas. Does anyone know why? I > would guess this grove to be young judging by the trees youthful appearance > and many branch stubs on the trunks of the pines. I would guess the grove at > 60-80 years old. > > The tallest tree found today was a respectable White Pine that was 143..2 > feet tall and 6' 3" in girth. Tall and slim. The largest overall was a > Tuliptree that was 138.3 feet tall and 8' 9" in girth. > > Also a hollylike plant was found in the forest that I believe is an invasive > species. Can anyone identify this " mystery holly " for me? I have seen it as > an ornamental in people's yards. I think my dad has one.. I don't think it is > a true ilex. > > Here are todays measurements > > cbh Height > > White Pine 6' 3" 130.3' > > White Pine 8' 0" 122.6' > > White Pine 6' 2" 136.5' > > Tuliptree 8' 9" 138.3' > > White Pine 6' 3" 143.2' ! > > Pitch Pine 5' 6" 114.3' ! > > It was a good day but my hands were about frozen when I got out of the woods! > > James Parton > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Societyhttp://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > -- > Eastern Native Tree Societyhttp://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group athttp://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]
