When traveling over the State of Maryland, you will find a great variety of tree species growing. The importance of trees, not only in our landscape but in our very way of life, is being recognized by more people every day. Residents of the state show a universal interest in “Big Trees”, and this interest was first recorded by State Forester Fred W. Besley in 1925 when he compiled the “Noted Tree List” for Maryland.
Fred Besley, our first state forester, aroused interest in big trees across the state, and over the years collected measurements and photographs of distinguished trees of the state. Each year brought new nominations, but in order to complete the list of all the native species, a more intensive search was necessary. In 1925, interest in large and unusual trees was stimulated by a Big Tree Contest sponsored by the Maryland Forest Association. Rules were adopted and prizes were offered to secure as many entries as possible. Each tree species was classified separately so the small trees like dogwood would not have to compete with larger trees such as oaks and maples. At that time, there were no standard rules to measure trees. In order to ensure fair comparisons of trees, certain measuring procedures had to be decided upon. Mr. Besley devised the following standards that are still used today.
In order to evaluate the relative size of trees, the girth (circumference at 4.5’ from the uphill side of the tree) in inches and the height and crown spread in feet, are added together to arrive at a number of points for each tree. This number is then used for comparison of tree sizes in each species. This system of measuring gives the trunk, the most important part of the tree, greater weight by giving the girth in inches.
Total Points = Circumference (inches) = Height (feet) =
25% of the average crown spread (feet)
For more information on how to officially nominate a big tree, visit the big tree book.
|
Height Working in pairs, use tape to mark the 1-inch and 10-inch lines on a twelve inch ruler. While one person stays by the tree, the other moves back until the whole tree can be seen. Keep moving back until, while holding the ruler at arm’s length, the base of the tree is at 0 inches and the top is at the 10-inch mark. Then, have the other partner mark a spot on the tree that is sighted at the 1-inch mark. Measure that distance from the ground on the tree and multiply by 10 to get the tree’s height. |
|
|
Circumference To measure the circumference of a tree, or how big around it is, measure it with a tape measurer 4.5 feet from the ground.
|
