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National Champion Trees The 1998 National Register of Big Trees which is a listing of National Champion trees in the United States was recently published in the spring 1998 issue of American Forests magazine. A champion tree is determined by total overall size which is calculated by adding the height in feet, the breast height circumference in inches measured at 54 inches and one-quarter of the crown spread in feet. The two largest trees on the list are a giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) with a score of 1300 followed closely by a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) with a total score of 1205. The breast height diameters of the two trees are 26.5 ft. and 23 ft. respectively. The next three largest varieties are Western redcedar (931), Sitka spruce (922) and Coast Douglas-fir (782). The two tallest trees on the list are a Coast Douglas-fir with a height of 329 feet followed by a coast redwood with a height of 313 feet. The champion with the biggest crown spread is a Pecan with a crown spread of 157 feet. Floridia leads the list with a total of 151 champions followed by California with 86 champions and Texas with 76 champions. The person credited with the nominating the most National Champions is Frank Cunningham (Cunningham Seeds listed on our home page) with about 40 trees to his credit. |
California Report Redwood Not Redwood. - It has always been known that the sapwood (white outer layer of wood) from a redwood tree does not provide protection against insects and decay as does the red heartwood which derives its color and decay resistant properties from the tannin oil content of the wood. We have just received a report from Dr. Libby that it has been recently discovered that a small percentage of the heartwood is also subject to attack by insects and does not provide the decay resistance normally associated with redwood. Currently there is a research project underway to try and develop an understanding of this problem. Because there is no way for currently determining which redwood is good, an additional treatment is recommended for new exposed construction. We plan to try and obtain more specific details about this problem and report them in the next month. International Report Redwood Technology - is finding a widespread international interest in redwoods. Recent e-mail has ranged from interest in planting coast redwood in southern India to problems with long horned beetles on coast redwood plantations in Germany. Also, there was a recent effort to save a 100 year old giant Sequoia in Germany as explained on the Homepage.. |