Joel,
Gorgeous tree. I love cottonwoods. On a recent visit to Lake Champlain, I measured some beauties. One was off the side of the road back in some woods. Getting to it required negotiating a patch of briars (ouch). Then the tree was covered in vines. I had to work my way in to get at the trunk, but it was worth the effort. The tree measured 17.4 feet around. Its battered top was only 73 feet above its base, but that didn't matter. Here is a close up of the trunk.
On the way to Chazy, NY, I spotted a tall cottonwood in a yard about 60 yards from the shore of the lake. Nobody was home so I went over and measured its girth at 15.4 feet. Its height was an impressive 115.0 feet. Cottonwoods rule.
My goal is to break 120 somewhere along the borders of Lake Champlain. One hundred feet is easy to break, but most top out at between 100 and 106 or 107 feet.
BTW, where is the Morton Arboretum? Springfield?
Bob
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Co-founder, Native Native Tree Society
Co-founder and President
Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest
Co-founder, National Cadre