Another amazing winter day in Atlanta. Mid 50's and insanely sunny and dry. This was my second outing in as many days. The goal was to revisit a few tall trees I measured in 2010 and do some more thorough searching for hidden gems. This site is a sliver of a green space in NE Atlanta on a tributary of Peachtree Creek. I inventoried exclusively on a steep East facing slope along with a few trees in a floodplain area. I started off by entering the woods much further South than I intended, which was a blessing in disguise, allowing me to "discover" 2 particularly amazing trees- a Northern Red Oak and a Beech Tree. Creek bed at South end of forest:
This was no run-of-the-mill Beech. Upon closer inspection, I realized this would be the new city champ, which is quite impressive b/c the current champ is no slouch at 12'2" x 116'! What a trunk!
Having both great girth and extraordinary height, this will likely be state co-champion for the species (current champ is 327 points, though I believe the height may be exaggerated at 135') It was right along the creek and had neat little pockets in the root flares with native ferns:
Next up was a magnificent Quercus rubra. This is the first confirmed over 140' in Atlanta at 141.3' tall x 10'1.5" CBH. It's also one of the tallest in the state, though I know Jess Riddle has found a few taller in the mountains. Might be a champ for the Piedmont??
Next up was a remeasure of a tall Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis) down in the floodplain. This skinny tree (CBH: 5'6") faces a 75' slope and has it toes in very moist substrate. Again, another impressively tall tree which may be the tallest in the state: My other remeasure was a big Quercus rubra also in the oxbow. It was 10'9.5" x 133.1' tall.
In addition to big/tall trees, I found some sizable vines- check out this poison ivy with my hand for scale:
Finally, I found this interesting piece of hardware left in a creekside Ironwood:
Full inventory and R10:
QuRu 10'1.5" x 141.3'*
LiTu 133.9'
CaCo 5'6" x 133.9'**
PiTa 9'5" x 129'
FaGr 14'2" x 126.9'
TiHe 6'11.5" x 126.7'
LiSt 124.9'
PiEc 6'10" x 122'
CaGl 119'
QuAl 118.1'
MaMa 1'7" x 56.9' (Bigleaf Mag.)
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R10 = 127.6' (this will rise with additional measurements on QuAl and LiTu species)
*Tallest in Atlanta and top 5 in state
**tallest in GA?
Jess Riddle has documented a few of similar height in N. Georgia The forests of Atlanta continue to surprise and amaze. Overall, in terms of diversity, tall trees, and big trees, metro-Atlanta is more impressive than any other urban center east of the Mississippi (aside from possibly Memphis?). Cheers, ~Eli
