Historic Trees

Paschale · April 23, 2005, 12:16:49 AM

I found a really interesing book in the bargain bin at B&N the other day. It has some cool features on what they call "Historic Trees." I figured I'd start a thread and share some of them from time to time. It makes me curious too if any of you know about historic trees, or visited some monsters. Especially those ones overseas that we might not know about here in the States.

So, first up:

THE LIBERTY TREE

The so-called Liberty Trees, one of which was planted in each of the thirteen original American colonies, were early symbols of the colonists' hunger for independence. The tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) that stood proudly on land destined to become St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, was the last surviving Liberty Tree. A count of its rings in 1971 yielded a number of 366, indicating the tree's age in years, and verifying that it was as old as the Maryland colony itself.

Under this Liberty Tree, the Sons of Liberty met to hear the speeches of Samuel Chase and other patriots, and residents of Annapolis assembled beneath its branches to plot the revolution against the British. When four thousand French troops marched within the city to join General Washington at Yorktown in 1781, this tree beheld the parade. In 1824, it also bore witness to Marquis de Lafayette as he attended a review of soldiers who gathered on what is now known as the St. John's College Green in tribute to him.

During the 1840s, schoolboys exploded two pounds of gunpowder inside the hollow of this lovely poplar. Surprisingly, instead of being destroyed, it appeared to flourish the next year! Some thought this was because the explosion destroyed worms that were eating the tree. In 1907, a landscape architect and forester, John T. Withers, restored the aging Liberty Tree in what was then thought to be the largest single accomplishment of tree surgery in the world. Hurricane Floyd, however, dealt the tree a deathblow in 1999, leaving it with a 15-foot fracture in one of its central branches. After consultation with tree experts from around the world, officials decided that the tree would present a danger to passersby, and so they removed it in a sad ceremony in October of 1999. In an earlier ceremony in June of the same year, scientists had removed materials from the tree for cloning purposes. If successful, the University of Maryland hoped to present these clones to the governors of the other twelve original colonies, and then establish cloned copies in all fifty states.

Maryland's Liberty Tree was about 96 feet tall with a branch spread of 60 feet. Its diameter was 8.5 feet as measured 4.5 feet from the ground. Tulip poplars customarily live to be between 250 and 300 years of age, barring any damage by insects or weather. These majestic trees often grow to 100 feet in the forest, making them one of th two tallest natives east of the Mississippi. A tulip poplar may grow a remarkable 3 feet per year and is spread reaches about one-half of its height. The foliage is pale to bright green, and its fall color is an attractive yellow.

---From TREES—NATURAL WONDERS OF AMERICA, Gilbert King, published by Running Press in 2003

Here are some interesting links about the tree.

Photo

Old Black and White Photo

Guitars made from the Liberty Tree

"Children of Liberty Tree" article

Pens made from the wood of the Liberty Tree

Rockn H · April 23, 2005, 02:39:12 AM

Some good stuff there, Paschale. Now that you've started you are going to finish that book for us, right. :D

SwampDonkey · April 24, 2005, 06:49:10 AM

http://www.nbtreehouse.ca/greattrees.html

The Tree House has a registry of outstanding individual trees in the province. These are trees chosen because of their size, beauty, or because some event of historic significance took place in their proximity.

Tom · April 25, 2005, 08:51:42 PM

Jeff · May 01, 2005, 04:51:00 PM

From the book "Famous Trees" Miscellaneous Publication No. 295 U.S. Department of Agriculture June, 1938

There was an American Beech tree on the old stage road between Blountsville and Jonesboro, Tennessee that had an inscription carved into the trunk that read "D. Boone Cilled A Bar On Tree In Year 1760." The tree fell in 1916 and had a girth of 28-1/2 feet. The Forest Service estimated the tree's age to be 365 years, fully two centuries old before Daniel Boone inscribed it.

Jeff · May 01, 2005, 04:53:41 PM

Since I own the above publication, and it was put out as a Government agency almost 70 years ago, I think I can safely add info here from time to time.

Its a lengthy book and has a lot of photos.

SwampDonkey · May 03, 2005, 06:08:17 PM

I'de say it was a safe bet to. ;D

That would be one mighty beech tree. I thought 12 feet in circumference (at 6 feet) was pretty big for a white elm.

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