| Whitewater
River & Limber Pole Creek |
Jess
Riddle |
| Jan
29, 2004 07:57 PST |
Last Saturday, Mike Davie visited the Whitewater River to
measure three
exceptional trees I saw on a previous trip, and to check out the
other
side of the river. The east side turned out to be generally
younger than
the west side, but trees still reached significant heights on
some gentle
dominated by mockernut hickory near a small tributary. All of
the trees
we measured grow on the South Carolina side of the state line
with NC.
After measuring tree the trees in the gorge, well explored a
small section
of Limber Pole Creek a couple of miles to the west. Steep slopes
shelter
flats along the creek, but the forest in the area is generally
unexceptional. White oak with lesser quantities of other oaks
dominates
the southeast facing slope, and mountain laurel and rhododendron
form a
thicket in the flats under a canopy of mixed hardwoods and
scattered white
pines. Given the unexceptional stature of the forest as a whole
and the
species composition typical of a mildly acidic site, the few
tall trees we
saw at the site greatly surprise me. In addition to the two
individuals
listed below, we also saw a 130'+ mockernut hickory in the area.
The
three threes are within 100 yards of each other at the base of
the steep
slope.
Species Cbh Height Stream Comment
Birch, Black 5'5" 113.9' Limber Pole Tallest known in
state?
Hickory, Mockernut 7'7" 130.1' Whitewater
Pine, Pitch 4'11.5" 115.8' Limber Pole
Pine, Pitch 6'0" 118.7' Whitewater Establishes state height
record?
Pine, White 15'3"* 146.5' Whitewater
Oak, Black 6'6" 128.0' Whitewater Tied 3rd tallest known in
state
Oak, Northern Red 9'7.5" 129.6' Whitewater
Oak, Northern Red 9'2" 152.9' Whitewater Mean of 152.0',
152.4', 154.4'
Oak, White 8'9.5"* 143.1' Whitewater Mean of 142.7',
143.6'. Tallest
known in state
*circumference from 12/6/03
As far as I know the northern red oak is the tallest we have
documented in
the eastern U.S. The height is probably on the conservative side
since
Mike said he had the best view on the highest measurement. The
tree grows
at the base of a steep slope where a small tributary intersects
the small
flats along the river. A dense stand of young tuliptrees grows
along the
one side of the tributary, and on the other side of the oak,
small
hemlocks and a few white ash and basswood grow in the river
flat. The
tree appears well under 100 years old with a fork between 75 and
80 feet
and a well formed, ascending crown above that. While the crown
appears in
perfect condition and capable of growing taller, fungus have
largely
decomposed the wood at the base of the tree. This tree and one
other one
in the Sumter NF that may be as tall have convinced me that
northern red
oak is physically capable of reaching 160' under the right
conditions.
Jess Riddle |
|