title . It was the largest White Oak in the state and a National Champion as well as the largest tree in Maryland . When it fell in 2002 , a local White Oak took over briefly . Named Flora ’ s Oak , she lived on a farm in Barnesville . But in June of 2008 , she blew down in a storm . Currently the County Champion White Oak is a well loved tree on Rockville Pike known as the “ Linden Oak .”
Our Sycamore is now the State Champion of its species and the largest tree in Maryland . At nearly 26 feet in circumference , it lives within a narrow riparian forest and leans toward the river on a steep slope with a height of 138 feet . Its heavy branches seem to reach the sky . Nearby , but closer to the river stands the County Champion Eastern Cottonwood ( Populus deltoides ). Another native , this tree is just over 16 feet in circumference and distinguished by a large burl or knotty growth starting a few feet above the soil line . Burls are callus wood tissue caused by some form of injury or stress such as storm damage that can erode away or deposit more soil around a tree ’ s trunk . Living within the river floodplain as it does , this seems a likely cause . As the Cottonwood grew , so did the burl .
Dickerson Conservation Area is a County Park owned by Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission ( MNCPPC ) . It adjoins the C & O National Historical Park . To reach the Sycamore and Cottonwood , one crosses the towpath toward the River and turns upstream into forest . Downstream , between the towpath and the canal stands an easy-to-find Champion . This huge Silver Maple
Miller admires County Champion Eastern Cottonwood on the Potomac River .
( Acer saccharinum ) holds pride of especially in these uncertain times . place beside the ruins of a building long gone . It looks every inch a ravages of climate change have
National efforts to avert the
Champion . At 23.25 feet in circumference with a trunk both bumpy knowledge of trees and forests .
already expanded and elevated our
and gnarled and a huge spreading Their known benefits to the overall base perfect for sitting a while to environment as well as our own contemplate , it appears to proudly physical and mental health keeps show the long life it has lived . growing . Trees not only filter pollutants from air and water , provide
When the Civil War came to Maryland , both sides used the towpath cooling shade and sequester carbon ; recent research shows they as a road and the canal for transport . This mighty tree may have also communicate with each other . witnessed Confederate and Union Forests are a community where individual tree species even help one troops struggling for control of a vitally strategic waterway . another . The underworld of a forest is vast and complex . It is now
These three are not the only champions in the Agricultural accepted fact that their root networks are in charge of all chemical
Reserve , and it should be noted that not all champion trees are big activity in a tree , interacting with trees . It depends on the species . bacteria and fungi beneath the Some are quite small and unassuming . The current Register of est inhaling the wood-air , volatile
soil . When we walk through a for-
Champion Trees can be found organic compounds released by at : mcmdforestryboard . org ( click trees come into our noses and on Champion Trees ). It includes thus our lungs . They enter our a listing of the publicly viewable bloodstreams , become part of our significant trees and their status bodies . Trees help us by relieving including GPS coordinates to find stress and imparting a sense of them . Once familiar with a few well being . We are only beginning champions , finding , visiting and to understand the deeper ways studying them is both inspiring and they contribute to our health and humbling — an opportunity to bring that of the planet . the whole family closer to Nature , Perhaps the most devoted
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