An awkward tea tree: VIDEO

[NickfromWI]

So I stumbled upon this tree today. It's a tea tree. I'd never seen a trunk this big, so I took some measurements. The species is listed on the California Registry Of Big Trees

Tea Tree, Australian
Leptospermum laevigatum
20 feet tall,
60 foot canopy
52 inches in girth
87 Points A. Cowley, 2004 - San Diego

The one I have is only 13' tall.
California uses the average max/min crown spread and this tree is only 16 feet and 6 feet.
Then trunk is (drumroll......) 80 inches in circumference! So with just the trunk and height, it's a new state champ.

So on to my question. The tree maybe has 3 trunks. The measurement I gave above is ONLY MEASURING THE BIGGEST TRUNK. Does this tree get MORE than 80 points for the trunk.

http://youtu.be/0u5gxnxc-PM

I made a video showing the situation. The tree doesn't stand up, so this shows where I made my measurements.

Any recommendations on how to get the best numbers?

love
nick

[edfrank]

Nick,

The problem with standard measurement protocols is that they fail to deal adequately with non-standard forms. I would love to have a separate list for trees with unusual forms and multitrunk trees. As for your specific question. By the protocols I am championing, because there needs to be a standard format for 90%+ of all trees in spite of the limitations, you measured the largest trunk correctly. The height is straightforward. The crown spread should be measured fully even if it extends across the hedge.

Edward Frank

[NickfromWI]

The lesser trunks are excluded from trunk measurements, right?

[edfrank]

Yes the secondary trunks should be excluded in the measurement protocol.

[Will Blozan]

Nick,

Don't include crown spread of the lesser trunks, either.

Will

[NickfromWI]

Oh wow- I wouldn't have thought if that.

I get to see the tree again in a couple weeks. I'll remeasure with just the one crown!

[edfrank]

Nick,

Yes for champion purposes just teh crown of the largest trunk. Measure all kinds of stuff - the diameters of the secondary trunks, the combined crown. the diameter of the merged trunk where they are merged, etc. Whatever you can. I want to see a listing developed for unusual trees and this would fit the category, so get what you can.

Ed

[Yeti]

Out of curiousist, how do you measure CBH? Do you measure it at 4.5 on the horizontal plane, or 4.5' in he narowist direction. :)

[Linda_09]

Nice post! I enjoyed reading it!