Long Point State Park in Chautauqua County is a big-tree site known to NTS, thanks to previous visits by Dale, Bob, and others. I've visited previously with Chris Merchant, to see the big cottonwoods and an interesting patch of old woods disjunct from the main old growth in the northeast corner. I made a trip to Long Point again on Sunday August 13 to measure a few specific trees and then did a bit more scouting in the deep canopy. It's not feasible to do much serious measuring in here until the leaves are off, but this session did turn up some exciting numbers. Here's the full sheet:
- longpointdata.jpg (70.18 KiB) Viewed 1888 times
The 129.2' black cherry is near or at the geotag Dale provided for the 130.1' tree in 2006, and its increased girth seems appropriate for 11 years growth, so it may be the same tree- however there are at least a half dozen of similar stature all around it, so it may be one of those instead. This was not measured at this time as the stand's tallest- just the only one I could get a view to the top of. It seems probable that Long Point still has 130+ cherries to show us.
- The 129.2' tall black cherry, not exactly a monstrous tree but it sure does stretch up there!
The 17.1'cbh 109.5' tall Northern Red Oak is undoubtedly the same tree that was measured to 16.8'cbh and 111.3' tall in 2006. It may measure taller after leaf-off. It is honestly the most impressive red oak, subjectively, I have ever met. From a distance I was sure it was a tulip. Speaking of tulips, I didn't get satisfying windows on any but one or two should get over 130'.
- The 17/1'cbh forest-grown Red Oak, an incredibly impressive tree! I'm at the base for scale if you look closely.
None of the ash are in great shape, but they're still there. The tallest bitternut is in a different location than the one Dale measured to around the same height in 2006, but I think I also encountered that specimen and failed to measure it. Cukes may top 120'- there are a lot of them in very good shape. One of the biggest discrepancies from the 2006 measurements are sugar and red maples and red oak all getting to much taller heights, with a couple red oaks likely to break 120' with the leaves off.
- The strange, swollen Cucumber Magnolia.
I made sure to measure the bizarre hershey's kiss-looking cucumber magnolia out on the point. There was a large burl protruding right at 4.5' above midslope, so I wrapped at 4.5' from the slope's low point and again from the slope's high point and averaged the two to get the final girth of 13.25'. It's not the most attractive cuke at this site by far, but it sure is unique.
- The large radiant White Oak along the road.
The very large spreading white oak is one of several such open-grown specimens scattered throughout the park, and was measured as a tree of interest for the Deep Roots project in particular. Its maximum spread of 120' is impressive, but its odd location on a slope just above the main road makes it surprisingly inconspicuous for such a large tree. The radiant red oak was a nice new find for me. Nearby is an interpretive sign that specifically mentions Black Oak as a typical species in the modern forest at Long Point, which is bizarre- there are no black oak that I've seen there at all.
- Unexpected radiant Northern Red Oak. 16.4'cbh.
I hope in the fall or winter I'll be able to take a day or two to do some serious work on this site with Elijah, Dale, Chris, and/or anyone else who might want to join in. I think it definitely has yet to be fully accounted for.
