European Copper Beech

[Dalmatian90]

Am I completely crazy, or would an European Copper Beech that's about 8' in diameter breast height be a tad bit older then 78 years? (I'm estimating the size from walking by it, but I know I'm not far off)

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x1060497584/Brooklyn-church-forced-to-take-down-78-year-old-tree

From stories in town, it's very likely the tree pre-dates the known commercial introduction in 1820 in the U.S.

It's a shame, it was a truly spectacular tree that grew it's entire life without competetion so it had an amazing canopy. With a road project in the last 5 years that included adding sidewalks, the area around the tree was marked off with construction fencing to keep equipment out and instead of concrete sidewalks packed recycled asphalt was used near the tree to try and reduce stress on it.

I don't mind a tree that needs to be taken down being taken down, I'm just real, real, real leery of what the paper reported as the age and looking for a reality check. Hmmm...and I may just be obsessive-compulsive enough to go count the rings on the stump

 

[moss]

It appears to be a multi-stem merged trunk right down to the ground (why it was falling apart) so the 8 ft. dbh is misleading for judging age. Have to wonder why it's so multi-stemmed, it could have been one of the 1820's -50's era trees that was cut back or damaged and sprouted from the remains.

Reminds me of the current "oldest" tree on the planet claim, a Norway Spruce I think in some harsh habitat in Scandanavia, a multi-stem that was aged by analyzing the roots, the part of the tree above the ground wasn't exceptionally old. So... if the roots on this beech could be similarly analyzed, might come up with an earlier date for the original tree.
-moss

Am I completely crazy, or would an European Copper Beech that's about 8' in diameter breast height be a tad bit older then 78 years? (I'm estimating the size from walking by it, but I know I'm not far off)

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x1060497584/Brooklyn-church-forced-to-take-down-78-year-old-tree

From stories in town, it's very likely the tree pre-dates the known commercial introduction in 1820 in the U.S.

It's a shame, it was a truly spectacular tree that grew it's entire life without competetion so it had an amazing canopy. With a road project in the last 5 years that included adding sidewalks, the area around the tree was marked off with construction fencing to keep equipment out and instead of concrete sidewalks packed recycled asphalt was used near the tree to try and reduce stress on it.

I don't mind a tree that needs to be taken down being taken down, I'm just real, real, real leery of what the paper reported as the age and looking for a reality check. Hmmm...and I may just be obsessive-compulsive enough to go count the rings on the stump