| Eastatoe
Creek |
Jess |
| Apr
28, 2002 14:07 PDT |
Yesterday
I returned to I stand of buckeyes on Eastatoe Creek that I
first visited last fall. The trees are located in flats along
the creek at
an elevation of approximately 1100' at the bottom of a small
gorge. The
forest in the flats is dominated by tuliptree with a midstory of
american
hornbeam. Buckeyes and paw paws are common in the understroy. I
originally assumed the buckeyes were large georgia buckeyes, but
upon
looking at them more carefully they appear to yellow buckeyes
with several
unusual features. The trees are generally small, often with
multiple
stems, and in one area form an under story thicket. Bark and
form are
variable with some trees exhibiting the generally smooth trunks
and
straight stems typical of young yellow buckeyes while others
have rough,
shallowly fissured bark and crooked stems. A few miles down the
watershed
buckeyes have flowers that range in color from yellow to pink.
On the way out of the area I was
surprised by an american chestnut
producing burs. The tree grows on a broad ridge at 1800'
elevation at the
of a recovering clear cut on a logging road embankment. The
blight is
obvious on the trees lower trunk, but has not yet girdled the
tree. The
branch structure shows that in one year the tree grew over three
feet and
is probably less than thirty years old. The chestnut is
2'6" cbh and 45.8'
tall. This tree is the first large chestnut I have seen in South
Carolina,
and seems to contradict the pattern in Georgia and South
Carolina or
chestnuts surviving longer at higher elevations.
Jess Riddle |
|