Bur oak in Swamp Relict

Tom Diggins and I met at the parking lot for Goll Woods State Nature
Preserve last Tuesday, April 10th, 2007. The weather was great and the water
level low in this relic of the immense Black Swamp that covered much of NW
Ohio. This tiny remnant is virtually all that is left of a huge swamp forest
that was drained for farmland.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/dnap/location/goll_woods.html


Better yet, the clouds of mosquitoes that Bob Leverett fed last summer were
nowhere to be found. Tom and I, stoked on leftover Easter chocolate, began
our walk on the Bur Oak Trail. Numerous impressive trees were instantly
spotted and our path turned into a random zig-zag from tree to tree. In a
matter of minutes we actually ended up on the Tuliptree Trail across the
road from the Bur Oak Trail. Strongly led further in that direction we
continued measuring the huge bur oaks. Numerous forest grown specimens with
long, massive trunks dominated the scene. On slightly lower and wetter sites
cottonwood, ash, sycamore, elms and hackberry took over; however, bur oaks
grew right into the wettest areas. Sugar maples and shaggy hickories, both
shagbark and shellbark, were scattered throughout along with a few
tuliptrees, black cherry, pignut, bitternut and American basswood. I was
shocked that valuable trees were not poached adjacent to the roads. Some of
the white oaks, ash and black cherry were of excellent quality and very easy
to access.

Bur Oak and Shagbark	Giant Cottonwood and Bur Oak
Goll Woods Bur Oak	Will and huge Bur Oak

For me, several species occurred there that were new to me in their native
habitat. Rock elm grew in the mid-story and several specimens had really
cool, twisted and heavily winged twigs (the state record grows here).
Shellbark was a new one for me and only by finding the scattered nuts in the
muck could I attempt to separate them from shagbark. Blue ash also occurred
in the wet sections and had smooth bark like no other ash. Ohio buckeye was
also a welcome new species as they were in early leaf and added some green
to the otherwise muddy-gray forest. Black ash, black maple and blackgum were
supposed to occur there but I did not see what I would call a black ash nor
did I spot a single blackgum. Tom and I speculated on black maple but good
leaves were not obtainable. The understory was diverse, with spicebush the
most common shrub. Bladdernut was sporadic, as was paw-paw and elderberry.
Understory trees were mostly Ohio buckeye, ironwood and a few hophornbeam. A
very nice hawthorn or perhaps crabapple grew along side the Tuliptree trail.
We could not figure it out due to no fruits or flowers present, and
unfortunately I also forgot to measure it on the way back.

Tom and I were partly distracted by an ancient green ash that had just
fallen across the trail. Trail crews had cut it and a rough ring count went
over 300 years. We pounded and cracked off sections to send to Neil. Later,
I counted a bur oak log that had been cut to clear a trail and it too went
over 300 years.

Goll Woods White Oak	Huge White Oak
Old Green Ash	Towering Bur Oak

In all, the site was very diverse, with at least seven species of oaks, four
species of ash, four species of hickory, and two species of elm. Keeping
them all straight took some effort! Cottonwood dominated the tall tree realm
while bur oak strongly dominated the big tree scene. 40" diameter bur oaks
were common with 50 inch trees commonly encountered. Cottonwood was the only
species to break 130' in height, but tuliptree and bur oak were not far
behind- both over 128'. Tom's laser shot on a white ash put it over 130' but
I was not able to confirm it from several locations. For now I have my
lasered height listed below. Here are the Rucker height and girth indices:

 Other notable trees measured were:

 
Will Blozan

President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.