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i've always been fascinated by big trees, and was just reading about maryland's wye oak- a ~400 year old tree that was finally felled by a storm in 2002:
makes that 2- story house look pretty dinky.
many states have 'big tree' contests, to track the largest trees in the state; maryland's is here, and virginia,
and my home state, new mexico.
We are relatively new to Seattle and our neighborhood right next to the Puget sound is full of big leaf maple trees. Never seen one before in my life.
They are monsters that put out leaves bigger than a turkey platter. Their trunks as big around as Volkswagons and their canopies enormous. They are a glory.
But they do have their misfortunes. Due to the huge leaves and the wet climate and soil, they often keel over and break in wet storms. They are shallow rooted and relatively weak wooded, regularly snapping thick branches for seemingly no reason at all. They shed truckloads of giant wet mushy leaves in the fall.
But they are a most majestic and beautiful Big Tree. I love them.
We are relatively new to Seattle and our neighborhood right next to the Puget sound is full of big leaf maple trees. Never seen one before in my life.
They are monsters that put out leaves bigger than a turkey platter. Their trunks as big around as Volkswagons and their canopies enormous. They are a glory.
But they do have their misfortunes. Due to the huge leaves and the wet climate and soil, they often keel over and break in wet storms. They are shallow rooted and relatively weak wooded, regularly snapping thick branches for seemingly no reason at all. They shed truckloads of giant wet mushy leaves in the fall.
But they are a most majestic and beautiful Big Tree. I love them.
wow, those are some humungous leaves. i've never heard of big leaf maples, either.
here are a couple of local biggies; the first two are of the national champion english elm in frederick, MD and the third is me in front of the largest black cherry in MD.
Where were those last two black and white photos taken? Were they on the eastern seaboard somewhere?
the last one definitely is, as it shows the now-all-but-extinct American chestnut. you can see the former range of that tree here. hard to believe that what used to be pretty much the largest and certainly one of the most dominant trees in the east has disappeared.
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The eastern US forests must have been pretty awesome 500 years ago. I believe it used to be the largest deciduous forest in the world.
i think you're probably right. it would really have been something to see - even states like IN and IL used to be absolutely covered with forest.
I've seen Redwoods and Sequoias and old-growth Tulip Poplars, but those baobabs take the award for hugeness...wonder how old they are??
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