Big Red Oak

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toppick08

Guest
Anybody ever wonder how old that beautiful southern red oak(quercus falcata) is in the cemetary of St. Paul's Methodist Church? My guess is it as at least 250-300 years old. What a grand specimen. It was even bigger last year before a huge limb was blown down during a storm. There's talk of widening rt. 5 , so a bulldozer will probably be it's demise. What a shame.
 
dorothydot

dorothydot

New Member
There is a way to get a good approximation of a tree's age. You take an increment borer and remove a 6" or so core from the tree. Then you count the number of rings per inch - this gives you a rough gauge of its rate of growth. Then you measure the tree's circumference, convert that measurement to diameter, divide the diameter in half for the radius. Now multiply the radius by the number of rings/years per inch and presto! A reasonably accurate estimate of the tree's age.

Perhaps you could contact a Forester who can do the boring?

Dot

PS - perhaps this tree is already on the MD Dept of Natural Resources Specimen Tree List? It's worth calling them to find out.
 
desertrat

desertrat

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dorothydot said:
There is a way to get a good approximation of a tree's age. You take an increment borer and remove a 6" or so core from the tree. Then you count the number of rings per inch - this gives you a rough gauge of its rate of growth. Then you measure the tree's circumference, convert that measurement to diameter, divide the diameter in half for the radius. Now multiply the radius by the number of rings/years per inch and presto! A reasonably accurate estimate of the tree's age.

Perhaps you could contact a Forester who can do the boring?

Dot

PS - perhaps this tree is already on the MD Dept of Natural Resources Specimen Tree List? It's worth calling them to find out.
Click to expand...

Or we could just ask aps.
 
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toppick08

Guest
Your right about contacting a forester. To my knowledge, the largest falcata oak in Md. was located in Harwood(Anne Arundel co.) It was also the national champion as of 1999
Wonder if it is still living? Had a circumference of over 27 feet, 3 foot from the ground.
 
desertrat

desertrat

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toppick08 said:
I guess no tree lovers here.
Click to expand...

I've loved my share. When I first moved here there was a huge tulip tree down by a little creek. Every New Years Day my boy and I and sometimes a pal or two of his would go carve our inits and date in it. Then along came Isabel.
 
luvscats

luvscats

New Member
It would be wonderful to get some acorns from this tree and plant them. Take a good picture of the old oak just in case it does meet its demise.

I got some acorns from an oak tree next to the White House in DC and planted them. It's like owning a piece of history!
 
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