Monday, May 21, 2012

Biggest Oak in King?


Photo by Barry Wallace
A new follower (Karen) of this blog wrote to tell me she recently moved into the King Creek area of King Township.   King Creek is on the Mill Road, which runs between the King Sideroad and the King-Vaughan Townline, between the 7th and 8th Concessions of King.   It's a charming and picturesque hamlet with the East Humber River meandering through it.   Lucky gal.   King Creek is also home to the Humber Trails Conservation Area which follows the Humber for almost the entire two kilometres between the 7th and 8th.   One of my favourite features of Humber Trails is the massive 90' oak tree, which towers above the Humber, just east of the wooden bridge, halfway into the riverine wildlife preserve and forest.   My wife and I visited it on the long weekend and measured its circumference (16' 3") and radius (5').   A few years ago, I submitted this tree to a province-wide search for the biggest trees in the province by county or region.   My submission was acknowledged but I never heard how it fared in the competition.   Obviously, the KingCreek/Humber Trails Oak was not the biggest oak in York Region or Ontario.   I'm not even sure what kind of oak it is.   I think I've narrowed it down to either, White, Red, Black, Bur (Mossycup), or Swamp, and I'm leaning heavily to Bur Oak.   The leaves I picked up most closely resemble the Bur Oak leaf and a remnant acorn had the mossy fringe on its cap that the Bur Oak (or Mossycup Oak) has.   I have to do some more research, but if in the meantime if you know what kind of oak this is, please comment.
In the bottom photo, immediately above, my wife is barely visible at the base of the oak's trunk.   She is 5"3" tall and I extrapolated the oak's height from her height.   Bur (or Mossycup) Oaks are normally 70' to 80' tall but can go as high as 170'.   Their diameter is usually 2' to 3' and can go up to 7'.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace 

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