Large Shumard Oak. Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge

[Larry Tucei]

NTS-

Measured the big Shumard Oak that I found last winter at NNWR in central Ms on Saturday March 30th.
A nice 1.5 mile hike through a Forest trail that follows just south along the Noxubee River brings you right to the tree.
This Oak will be the third largest of all Oaks I’ve measured here and the largest of its species I’ve measured.
The results were CBH- 17’ 3”, Height- 126’ and Crown Spread- NS- 96’, EW 75.
Leaves were present so I may be a little short on the height.
I walked another 1/4 mile along the trail noticing many large trees in this region.
I’ll return this fall for more exploration.
Larry

[dbhguru]

Larry,

Really great to hear from you. That Shumard is off the charts. It reminds me of some of the huge Cherrybark oaks in Congaree. Is your oak the new state champion?

Bob

[Larry Tucei]

Bob
Unfortunately our Champion tree program listing has not been updated in several years.
This tree is much larger than the one on the old listing.
In answer to your question yes it would become the new Ms Champion Shumard Oak.
Good to be back.
Larry

[Bart Bouricius]

Larry,

Fantastic old oak, and from the photos it looks to be in good shape. Is it in old growth forest, or is it in a sea of second growth. It clearly had good competition during most of it's years.

[Erik Danielsen]

That is some oak! Pretty large crown spread for forest-grown, too. Also really loving the photos of the spring bloom- they look to me like some golden ragwort (Packera) species? Are these (and the oak) on the floodplain itself or former floodplain that's now persistently dry?

[Larry Tucei]

Bart- Yes second growth. Ms only has old growth Cypress, Black Gum and Sweetgum.
Super growth rates most of the trees here are between 50- 100 years old.

Erik- The Floodplain, several rivers and creeks spill out every year. This winter areas had some of the highest water levels we have seen in 25 years.
Larry

[Rand]

I always wonder about the history of trees like that. Just small enough to be passed over by the last round of logging, but big enough to get a significant head start on the regrowth?

Looks like the greenery is a full month ahead of us here in Ohio. Daffodils came out just last week, and the grass is greening up.

[Larry Tucei]

Randy
I often thought the same thing. You hit the nail on the head!