Will:
I would love to show you the two stands I have mentioned--the
Rothkugel, and the one near Glady, WV. Maybe we can arrange to visit
them. Sometime in the spring would be best--the areas now must have
over 3 feet of sonw, and although I am no sissy in deep snow and real
cold, things could be a bit inconvenient now. I probably would not
have the strength to walk up the ravine to the top and then venture
out over the large flat area on top--maybe few people would in these
conditions.
One problem is that these two stands are not real close to each
other--maybe 2 hours apart, and they are in remote areas of WV. I
have a place in Garrett County, MD--if we started early in the morning
from there we could do both in one day, depending on how long it takes
to do some measurements at each site. Or I could arrange to meet you
at some point in WV somewhat closer to the stands themselves--maybe in
Elkins, WV.
I think if you are interested in Norway spruce to the degree I you
suggest, these stands are a must see. And I an dying to know how tall
the trees are. I will be somewhat surprized if the Glady stand's
dominant trees are not at least 140 feet tall. But I make no
promises--I don't want egg on my face. This is a dense pure stand of
NS planted in 1933 basically at 6 X 6 spacing.
The Rothkugel is something entirely different. It was planted in
1907, and the trees are now growing as scattered individuals and small
groups among a mixture of hardwood trees of the same age. Black
cherry, red maple, and red oak are prominent, if I remember right.
There are also a few scattered European larch--another fine tree by
the way. A forester I talked to about 15 years ago said that he
thought the trees were 135 feet tall at that time. They are not at
this time growing very fast, so any increase from that time is
probably fairly modest. Also, I don't know if that estimate was
accurate. I did some fairly quick estimations, and I would guess that
somewhere between 130 and 140 is probably in the ballpark. The strain
of NS in the Rothkugel seems to me to be nothing very special or
especially adapted to the climate there. But given the age of the
trees, they have made good progress upward over time.
--Gaines
On Jan 3, 8:25 pm, "Will Blozan" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Gaines,
>
> I LOVE Norway spruce and would be very, very interested in seeing the groves
> you mentioned. Currently, ENTS and WNTS seekers have found no individuals
> over 140' in NA and just a scattering over 130'. The most productive grove I
> know of here in NC (with 2 trees at or over 130') was recently almost
> entirely logged. One tree survives (if it made it through the recent winter
> storms) of the 130 class.
>
> Here is a post on the oldest one I know of in NC:
>
> http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/camcore/we...
> _mansion.htm
>
> Also, I have seen the Anders Run tree and believe it to be the largest
> specimen ENTS has documented. It is currently the height record for NA.
>
> Will F. Blozan
> President, Eastern Native Tree Society
> President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.
>
> "No sympathy for apathy"
>
>
--
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]
