ENTS: The longest limb I have seen is on the Angel Oak near Charleston, SC. Has anyone measured that one? However, I also saw a limb on a redwood in Prairie Creek State Park. This was a hanging limb. I can't give any good estimate of its length, but it started rather high up in the crown, and just started growing, or hanging downwards. In my memory of it I can see it about 100 feet long. Really amazing!
--Gaines -------------------------------------- On 1/10/10, Edward Frank <[email protected]> wrote: > Don, > > I understand your argument. It is just that in the discussions of longest > limb in the past, we could not reach a consensus of not only what we were > trying to measure with the concept, and the methodology of what should be > measured. The discussion died out once different people each expressed > their opinion. So there is no standardized method of measuring longest > limb. > > Ed Frank > > http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ > http://primalforests.ning.com/ > http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: DON BERTOLETTE > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 3:35 PM > Subject: RE: [ENTS] Re: Rucker Spread Index? > > > Ed- > Limb or branch length is almost self-explanatory (starts from the pith of > the trunk that the limb/branch is attached to, or alternatively, from the > 'imagined' surface of the trunk, where the pith would imaginably pass > through the trunk on its way to the trunks pith). > The role the limb/branch plays in crown spread is another story and > another measurement. > -don > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ENTS] Re: Rucker Spread Index? > Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:17:36 -0500 > > > The best method in my opinion is the spoke method, where a series of shots > are made from the crown tips to the edge of the tree trunk in a spoke like > pattern. 2X the average of these spokes is the average crown spread of the > tree. Maximum crown spread is the greatest distance from branch tip to > branch tip and may not pass directly through the trunk. The specifics for > the measurement for the longest limb is still being debated. One argument > suggests it should be horizontal offset from the outermost branch to the > projection above the center of the tree, one suggests it should be the > horizontal offset from the outermost branch tip to the collar of the limb > where it attaches to the trunk, and a third has suggested it should be the > path length from the outermost tip along the branch itself to the collar at > the base of the branch. > http://www.nativetreesociety.org/measure/longlimbs/longest_limbs.htm > > Ed Frank
