Ents, On Saturday, at the suggestion of Josh Kelly and Will Blozan, we followed the Davidson River west from Brevard, NC to explore Horse Cove and East Horse Cove. Ascending to just under 6000’ elevation, the surrounding watershed drains the steep southeastern flank of the Balsam Mountains, and features several granitic domes, the best known of which is Looking Glass Rock (http://tinyurl.com/yct2wqw). John Rock, one of the smaller granitic domes, shelters Horse Cove from the west, and the steep upper slopes of Chestnut Knob provide shade from the south/southeast. While Horse Cove is a broad cove draining to the north with several small, steep, sub-coves coming off Chestnut Knob, the adjacent East Horse Cove is a northeast flowing ravine. East Horse Cove generally appears more acidic with patchy rhododendron along the stream, although near the top of the stream spicebush dominates the understory. Tuliptrees line the stream, but on the east facing slopes they quickly give way to a mix of hickories and oaks. Tuliptree also forms nearly pure stands where side coves enter into Horse Cove, and on those sites spicebush again dominates the understory. Gentler sections of Horse Cove support a more diverse overstory that, in addition to tuliptree, includes a mix of oaks, pignut hickory, and beech. Throughout the cove silverbell occurs as an understory species, and a few sugar maples, locally uncommon, grow in the midstory. The overstory is generally mature, probably a little less than 100 years old, except for a section of the middle of the cove that was clear cut perhaps a decade ago.
Species Cbh Height Ash, White 7’8” 136.6’ Beech 6’2.5” 130.6’ Basswood, White 5’10” 142.3’ Hickory, Mockernut 7’11” 132.9’ Hickory, Mockernut 7’4” 133.1’ Hickory, Pignut NA 143.4’ Hickory, Pignut 6’6” 152.1’ Magnolia, Cucumber NA 128.7’ Oak, Black 9’2” 125.5’ Oak, Chestnut 5’0” 128.0’ Oak, Northern Red 9’0” 129.2’ Oak, Southern Red 7’10” 119.7’ Pine, White 9’7” 149.9’ Tuliptree 6’4.5” 150.4’ Tuliptree NA 150.9’ Tuliptree 6’10” 157.5’ Tuliptree NA 159.5’ Rucker Index 139.0’ The mockernut hickories may be state height records, and the great height and abundance of the hickories relative to other species resembles tall tree sites along the Blue Ridge Escarpment in SC, including Wadakoe Mountain and Tamassee Knob. However, basswood does not reach 140 along the escarpment, and all of the tall ash on the escarpment are var. biltmoreana not var. americana as in Horse Cove. The southern red oak is also exceptional for the mountains, and not surprisingly, grows on a slope outside the coves and just above the Davidson River. We did not attempt to find the tallest tuliptree and only explored about half of the cove, so more searching will almost certainly raise the Rucker Index above 140’. Jess and Mike
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