| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
 Posted - 11/21/2006 : 14:52:07
|
One of the biggest Wellingtonia in Langley Park stands alone just north of the arboretum, and because others name their big trees, I call this one TOBERMORY. Wellington and Tobermory are both Wombles who clear rubbish from Wimbledon Common, and trees clear rubbish from the air. Tobermory was the handy man in much the same way as me, and the town of Tobermory is in Mull near to Argyll and Butte where the largest Wellingtonia in the U.K.(at 150 ft high)is situated at Benmore. So Tobermory seemed a good and appropriate name.
Tobermory os about 130 years old, 105ft tall, and what you can see weighs about 30 tonnes. Add on its' roots and the weight becomes about 36 tonnes. To grow to this size it would have absorbed over 26 tonnes of carbon di-oxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, and this amount of CO2 would be produced from 2900 gallons of petrol. So you can work out how many miles of your polluting Tobermory has cleaned up.
The tallest known tree was a Eucalyptus Ragnans in Australia at 435 ft (some reports say 470 ft), so the next time you see Tobermory, imagine twice it's height, and then double the whole lot again, and you'll be somewhere near 435 ft. Formerly it is thought that another Eucalyptus Ragnans topped 492ft. The tallest known living tree is a Coastal Redwood at 370 ft.
The oldest known trees are Bushy Cone Pines at 5000 years give or take a month. Sequopias have been known to survive 3400 years, which means they would have been as big as Tobermory is now at the time when Greeks pushed a wooden horse up to the city of Troy.
The biggest circumference is on a Montezuma Cypress in Mexico at 118 ft or 37.5 ft diameter. The average single carriageway road is about 20 ft wide.
The biggest known living tree by volume of it's trunk is the General Sherman mentioned above. It's 275 ft tall,32 ft diameter, has a volume of 52508 cu.ft., and weighs about 2100 tonnes. Each year it puts on enough wood to make a tree 1ft diameter by 100 ft tall. It's lowest branch is 130 ft off the ground, so if you stood Tobermory alongside then it's top would still be 25ft below the lowest branch.
FINAL FACTS
1 acre of forest absorbs 3/4 tonne of CO2 each year
pro rata 1 square mile of forest absorbs 480 tonnes CO2 each year
As a species, human beings generate 8 billion (8000,000,000) tonnes CO2 each year
In the Amazon alone 20,000square miles of forest are cut down each year
Globally 60,000 square miles of forest are cut down each year.
Sleep Well
|
|
|
Ringo
New Member
United Kingdom
68 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2006 : 13:10:07
|
....so i guess you would be on the side of keeping the tree even though it is in the wrong place (allegedly) and therefore according to Alan Titchmarsh it is a weed!
Secondly where did Wellington buy his boots and what colour were they? I walked the length and breadth of Slough High Street last weekend and couldn't find a pair of size 8's. Perhaps if he had a big army, that's why there were none left!
Finally are all your facts true or did you make some of them up? (Only joking). How much more would Tobermory weigh if it was full of snow? Does it clear up more CO2 in the growing season? i.e. is it dormant in the winter? I need to know these things... |
 |
|
|
JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2006 : 03:21:30
|
I've always been fascinated by trees (I think I must have been hung from one in a previous life!) but my active interest in plants only began about seven years ago when I saw a little white flower blooming in March/April and found out it was a Stitchwort, and realised that I had lived around allthese beautiful things for nearly sixty years and didn't know a damn thing about any of them. So I started to learn. All that I know I've read - no original ideas then - and I read that Wellington realised that many of his soldiers were unable to fight effectively because of foot problems; blisters,rotting skin and flesh; all because their footwear was totally worn out, or useless, or non-existent. So he sent to England for a waterproof type boot to be produced, which did the job, and carries his name.
Tobermory will not weigh any more in the snow because global warming means that we don't get snow here any more. Average mean temperature (that's a scientists way of saying average average temperature, but average mean temperature sounds superior) across the Earth has increased by one degree centigrade over recent years (more details if you want them) but one degree in the tropics is un-noticeable, where in the arctic and antartic it is considerable. In actual fact, average temperatures in the polar regions has increased by six degrees C, causing major environmental problems in Alaska and Siberia (more details if you want them).
Trees grow almost entirely in the spring and summer. I say almost entirely becuase I'm not sure how a warmer climate will affect them, you will have noticed how long the leaves stayed on the trees this autumn, and I'm sure the experts aren't too clear either. The main growth occurs in the spring when the trees wake up from hibernation and ther's usually plenty of food and drink in the ground. So they biuld large, thin walled, cells to get as much of the available grog into them as possible. As the year proceeds so growth slows and the need for food reduces but they nedd to remain stout and secure so they biuld smaller cells with thicker walls to give added strength and support. Thus we can see the ring system in the trunks of felled trees. The trees needed be felled to see this, the experts have a contraption called an increment borer which is hammered into the tree and collects a core, a bit like taking core samples from glaciers or the ground. As trees get older they tend not to grow upwards. The theory is that particularly on the very large trees9See above) the energy necessary to push sap to the top of the tree has a finite limit and, for instance, General Sherman has lush leaves on the lower brances but really whispy ones at the top. However, trees must add to their girth each year or they die for the sap is taken to the new shoots by the new cells. Hence we count the rings to tell the trees' age. As a general rule (which often rarely applies) trees add to their girth by about one inch (25mm) each year. Some faster growing trees such as Sequoia add more, and slower growing ones such as beech or oak add less. Also site and competition from other trees affect to outcome (I could demonstrate that for you in Langley) But generally a tree ten feet circumference will be about 120 years old, which will be a much closer approximation than looking at it and thinking (I wonder how old that tree is?).
|
|
|
|
JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2006 : 06:12:58
|
I had a sudden thought of lots of curious people running around Langley Park with tape measures, so I should put you on the right track in case you decide to try.
1) AGE. measure the circumference in centimetres at a height of about five feet (1.5 metres) above the ground. This remaves any spread of the trunk due to the root system. For hard wood trees such as oak. beech,ash divede the figure obtained by two. For faster growing trees such as pine or willow divide the figure by three.
2)HEIGHT for this you will need to know a few details about yourself. First measure the distance from you wrist bone to your elbow. Second measure the distance from the centre of your clenched fist to the top of your shoulder when you arm is held out in front of you. This can be difficult!! So for the average person the ratio of forearm over whole arm is 1 to 2, (or half). You also need to know the length of your average step. Do this either by measuring ten feet on the ground, and counting the number of steps to cover this distance, or, more accurately, make a mark behind your left heel, take five steps and make a mark behind your right heel, and then measure the distance.
You now need a piece of straw, or reed, or twig, or anything that can be cut (or broken) to the same length as your forearm detailed above. Walk away from the object you want to measure (This could be a tre, or the lamp-post down your street, or the cliffs at tha back of the beach when on holiday). Holding the twig out in front of you with a straight arm, continue moving away from the tree(or whatever) until the apparent height of the twig is the same as the apparent height of the tree. If you try taking two steps further forward,or backward, and check, you will see the difference in apparent heights. From the point where the heights are the same walk towards the tree counting the number of steps. Try to keep you step the same as when you measured, don't stride out.. When you reach the base of the tree (please walk in a straight line!) multiply the number of steps by the length of your step. By simple geometry of "similar triangles", the height of the tree will be half the length you have just measured. It works with trigonometry as well but you have to use tangents, and dividing by two is much simpler.
For me measuring Tobermory, my step is 2ft9inches, and I took 76 steps. 76 x 2.3/4ft equals 209 feet. divide by two and you get 104ft 6inches. So. all right I cheated when I said 105 feet, but its grown since I measured it.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Tree - mendous (2)
