She is the largest documented paper birch in the state of Vermont.
It's hard to tell from this photograph but the forester who led the walk re-measured her as we watched and her circumference is 9 feet, 11 inches, she's 77 feet high, and she has an 85 foot crown.
26 comments:
Its a very unique birch and almost antique ;)
Mr Mc Casey would love your shot!!Me to ...
:)
Yellow is everywhere this time of year. Nice.
I would have thought that on a giant trees tour you would have to go deep into the forest, not to a person's yard right in town.
Dave, thanks for your comment. Here's how the forester explained the fact that most of the big trees were in house yards. In the woods, trees compete for light, nutrients, water, etc. In a field or yard, the tree gets what it needs without too much competition and so, often, grows tall and wide. The downside to dooryard trees is the impact of the house itself and the road and driveway, which cramp and compact the tree's root structure.
Do you remember where he took his measurement at on the trunk?
The only reason I asked is that when I used to buy trees, and I bought a lot of trees, they were always measured 1 foot off the ground. I have no idea where you are supposed to measure them if you are looking for record sizes.
It is a beautiful photograph.
I also enjoyed your explanation to Dave. In forests, the trees grow tall to get to the sun so there are plenty of tall trees too.
No matter the numbers, this tree is of the kind I would like to talk with..I'm sure she has a lot of stories to tell!
Brattcat,
Thank you for your comment on your blog alerting me to the answer that you posted in your comments. The forester's explanation makes sense. I have seen a few sidewalks that were cramping the path of roots, but the roots appeared to be winning.
Abe, the standard measurement is about 4 1/2 feet up. Sometimes that's impossible to get because of the peculiarities of a tree's growth but they try to get as close to 4 1/2 feet as possible.
It's massive!I loved your picture, everything so perfect in this Autumn, and those soft colourful leaves at the floor.
Léia :)
That is good news. I will have to measure my white oak tree. It was a twig when I planted it. It came from an old white oak tree that I used to sit under and eat my lunch at school. So it is special to me. The parent tree died and was removed. It has been struck by lightening some years ago and split the trunk and then disease took over and killed it.
At 4, 1/2 feet up the oak tree is 4.7 feet in diameter. Larger than I would have guessed.
This tree is magnificent. Wow, that IS huge. The door nearby is perfect.
Great posts!
I LOVE old trees!!!
Superb photo, autumn at its finest!
That is one heck of a tree. And it's right there in Brattleboro?
This tree should be made into an historic site.
Love, autumnal photo, Brattcat...I'll bet you did have a time trying to fit it all into one shot!
I have always loved birch trees so I appreciate this post very much!
Magnificent.
Sunny :)
thank you for the shot! There is also a little red swing on the tree: lucky kid!
Jacob, actually the tree is in Putney, about a 20 minute drive from Brattleboro. Sorry to be misleading. The big tree tour went all over Windham County.
Great tree and beautiful photo. The atmosphere is fantastic!
Love the idea of a big tree tour: honor the elders, mm? And I love the facts you learned along the way.
Amazing! I'm used to seeing birches die at young ages here, especially the ones commonly planted n lawns. Nice photo.
When I enlarged the photo, the full impact is very impressive, BC. I like how it is undressing in front of me and how the lichen/moss is replaced by smooth shiney new wood on some branches. The mist and the other naked trees behind give the photo a lovely feel.
It is so domesticated that a tree of such substance and such note can have a red swing suspended from a low-slung branch.
4.5 metres from the ground, eh?
When I see an image like this I thin National Geographic... I have to figure out the size in metric unit and I checked twice the result because it was almost incredible. Excellent post, you know your way with trees!
We have river birches here, I have to wonder if they get that big. Beautiful tree, in the dooryard.
Let's see... that's a 3 meters circumference with a 26 meters crown. Not bad at all! Very nice picture, by the way!
This place is magic! Fantastic shot!
What a fascinating tour to take. I enjoyed learning about paper birch and seeing this historic example. It must be something to behold. I would love to push a little one on that red swing.
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