Porters Creek    Jess Riddle    Feb 27, 2006 19:00 PST  Ents, Will Blozan and I returned to the Porters Creek watershed (see "Lowes & Cannon Creeks" post from 2/9/06) to search a previously unexplored, north facing cove for new large and tall hemlocks. From the mouth on Porters Creek at 2800' elevation, the cove gradually gains 800' elevation between two parallel, steep-sided ridges before ending in a steep, rocky slope. Buckeyes and a few other mesophytic species line the middle of the cove, and separate the contrasting forests on the northwest and northeast facing slopes. Hemlocks and rhododendron cover the entire eastern ridge while an open forest of hemlock, silverbell, fraser magnolia, tuliptree and striped maple dominates the cove's other side. Open, rich cove forests featuring red maple, sugar maple, hemlock, tuliptree, and buckeye also grow on the northeast facing slopes farther up Porters Creek. In the cove: Species Cbh Height Buckeye, Yellow NA 134.2' Cherry, Pin 3'6" 89.6' Hemlock, Eastern 12'8" 165.3' Magnolia, Fraser 7'6" 118.3' Maple, Red 14'10" 126.9' Maple, Striped 3'1" 69.6' Maple, Sugar 11'2" 125.9' Tuliptree 18'6" 167.5' Tuliptree 12'0" 170.4' Tuliptree 21'3" 173.4' Along Porters Creek: Species Cbh Height Maple, Red 16'10.5" ~120' Maple, Red NA 131.6' Silverbell 6'8" 125.2' In Tennessee, the 165.3' hemlock is second in height only to the tree recently relocated tree on Lowes Creek. The hemlock is the forth-tallest known living hemlock. The fraser magnolia is the tallest known in Tennessee, and falls short of the eastern height record by only 0.4'. The 21'3' x 173.4' tuliptree is the seventh tuliptree over 20' in circumference found in the Porters Creek watershed. The tree is also the tallest known tuliptree in Tennessee, and the tallest known tree in the state. The tree has substantial basal flair, and is likely smaller in volume than the extremely columnar 18'6" tree in the same cove. However, the 16'10.5" cbh red maple is not flaired at the base. By volume, the maple is either the second or third largest of the species. The silverbell is 0.6' shorter than the recently found state height record, and grows farther down Porters Creek. Jess Riddle & Will Blozan RE: Porters Creek RED OAK?   Will Blozan   Feb 27, 2006 19:52 PST  Jess, There was also the ~17'4" X ~128' northern red oak at the base of the cove. Will RE: Porters Creek   Will Blozan   Feb 27, 2006 19:52 PST  Dale & other ENTS, FYI- The hemlock Jess listed (and the grove surrounding it) is on the hemlock woolly adelgid treatment schedule according to Tom Remaley of the NPS-GRSM. In general, the NPS is relying heavily on the input of ENTS (Blozan, Riddle, Davie) for their old-growth backcountry treatment priorities. Will Re: Porters Creek   Neil   Feb 28, 2006 05:53 PST  Dear Jess, Is this the same Porter's Creek in which Dave Stahle and Matt Therrel cored tulip-poplar? Most of the trees in their somewhat-smallish sample are 120-150 years old, but there are a few over 220 yrs, including one at 300 years. Neil Re: Porters Creek   Jess Riddle   Feb 28, 2006 18:01 PST  Neil, I'm not familiar with that work by Stahle and Therrel, but if they were working in the Smokies, it is the same Porters Creek. The stream has extensive old-growth forests and an unusual amount of tuliptree, so the creek would be a logical study area for tuliptree. At two spots along the creek, each a few acres in extent, tuliptrees under 100 years old form nearly pure canopies. Those sites show no signs of human disturbance and are adjacent to large tuliptrees that show signs of advanced age, including a 20'10" cbh individual. Jess RE: Porters Creek   Will Blozan   Mar 02, 2006 06:30 PST  Neil, I helped core trees for Stahle on Porters Creek in 1997. Will   Home