| Northampton
Pin Oak |
Robert
Leverett |
| Dec
12, 2005 05:13 PST |
On Sunday morning, Monica and I checked out the New England
champion
pin oak in Northampton. The tree is described by the Northampton
Tree
Committee as being 300 years old. I don't know where their
information
comes from. So I can neither confirm nor deny it, but it is an
old tree.
I had not previously seen the champ, but when I did today, I was
properly impressed. I measured 3 tops, two of which were
slightly over
105 feet. Then, I discovered a 3rd top that exceeds the height
of either
of the first two. So, the tree's dimensions are as follows:
Height: 107.9
feet
Circumference: 17.4
feet
Avg Spread: 96
feet (approximately. It may be a little less)
Big tree Pts: 341
The big Columbus Street pin oak is a single-stemmed tree that
branches
about 30 feet up its trunk. It is the current New England
champion. It
is a most worthy tree, truly one of many Northampton standouts.
After measuring the pin oak, Monica and I went to a property
that I
have reported on before and measured another tulip tree. It's
8.2-foot
circumference is nothing special. However, it makes 130.7 feet
in height
and is the 4th 130-footer in the stand.
Northampton is one of the two big tree-tall tree towns in Mass.
The
Rucker index of Northampton currently stands at 120.2. I have
been
unsure how to compute the Rucker index for a town. Several
political
subdivisions are involved and several classes of forests and
trees. In
Massachusetts, if we take a town to be the political township,
then
Charlemont wins hands down because of MTSF, but it makes no
sense to
consider MTSF to be part of Charlemont. So if we take out
federal and
state forests and parks from a township, do we base the
calculations on
the remaining lands or do we restrict the eligible trees to
those in
more of the central town area? The 120.2 index reflects just the
in-town
area of Northampton. When Florence is included, which is legally
part of
Northampton, the index is 120.4. However, I haven't even dented
the
possibilities of Northampton. Its Rucker index will probably
eventually
climb to around 121.5.
As winter sets in, I intend to pursue Northampton's Rucker
index.
Sometimes I need a swift kick in the pants to become motivated.
I think
if Will Blozan and Jess Riddle were here, they would be crowing
new
champions weekly. The town is awash in tall native and
non-native trees.
There are some dilly Norway spruce, white fir, etc. that may
challenge
the best that grow in MTSF and Stockbridge, MA.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
|