“ Into the forest I go , to lose my mind and find my soul .” ~ John Muir
istry which lists some of Loudoun ’ s largest and oldest trees ( loudoun . gov / bigtreeregistry ). Some Loudoun big tree champions , such as the giant 240-year-old cucumber tree with a 250-inch circumference , are also Virginia State Champions .
Before taking a closer look at six very common trees of Loudoun , there are a few characteristics of a typical Loudoun forest to note . While some evergreens — especially Virginia pine and eastern cedar — can be found , the bulk of the trees in Loudoun woods are deciduous , losing their leaves each fall . That means the forests feel very different in the four seasons : new buds and forest floors filled with wildflowers in the spring , deep foliage and cool shade in the summer , beautiful foliage colors of yellow and red in the fall , and barren trees with open vistas in the winter .
The mature state of many Loudoun forests is oak / hickory or maple / beech , but even in such forests dozens of other species are common . In fact , compared to forests in the western U . S ., which certainly have spectacular trees but usually fewer species , Loudoun forests are extremely diverse . It is common to find 40 or more species of woody plants ( trees , shrubs and vines ) in just a few acres of a Loudoun forest . To test this , I hiked around ten acres of woods on our farm in western Loudoun and found almost 50 trees and other woody plant species in that small area , including : white pine , Virginia pine , eastern cedar , American holly , white oak , red oak , pin oak , chestnut oak , shagbark hickory , mockernut hickory , pignut hickory , redbud , pawpaw , dogwood , spicebush , black cherry , sugar maple , silver maple , red maple , hackberry , American elm , slippery elm , black walnut , sycamore , tulip poplar , black gum , black locust , hawthorn , buckthorn , blackhaw , sassafras box elder , green ash , beach , black willow , persimmon , quaking aspen , sweet birch , two species of wild grape , poison ivy , greenbrier , tree of heaven , sweet cherry , barberry , paulownia , mulberry , bittersweet and autumn olive . All are common in Loudoun woods and all but the last seven are natives .
Photo , opposite page : white oak tree on Birch Hollow Farm ; below : tulip poplar with Dr . F . Turner Reuter on Glenstone Farm .
PHOTO : JIM HANNA photography