Jabba the Hutt Oak, CT

[RyanLeClair]

Here are two shots of an exceptionally gnarly oak Bart and I found in Newtown, CT. It was 22'3" around @ breast height, and 19'3" around at its skinniest point. Measuring at ground level probably would have gotten us a 30' circumference. The height was unexceptional, maybe 70'. The spread was around the same.

[dbhguru]

Ryan,

This tree definitely needs to be entered into a photo contest. I just haven't sorted out in my mind what kind of contest.

Bob

[ElijahW]

Ryan,

That tree has definitely been through some trauma. I know of a couple of Northern Red Oaks here in CNY that have similar gnarly root flares. One is at the N. Syracuse cemetery adjacent to Tom Howard's oak grove, and the other is near the village of Aurora, along the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Both grow along roadsides, but neither one, I think, has been trimmed to the extent of this white oak. Thanks for sharing.

Elijah

[RyanLeClair]

The photo contest might be, "Tree that Looks Most Like and Alien." ;) It would have to be entered in with the pre-storm Granby Oak; in its heyday that tree was reminiscent of a hostile alien invader.

Elijah, what kind of trauma do you think it went through? Maybe the road hurt it?

[Larry Tucei]

Ryan, Super cool tree, I love the name. The road for sure played an important role in the trees disfiguration. Soil compaction, water runoff, chemicals in the asphalt etc. Years ago when it was a wagon trail I bet everyone stopped under that great tree and had a picnic, party whatever. So many times I see roads right up to the roots of trees no buffer zone. Ive seen Live Oaks with the same type of charactaristics. Also the tree could have been damaged by something- maybe road construction. Trees with burls all over the trunk are unusal but I have seen them. I was wondering if those types of figures were caused by a Cancer or Disease. I really like Jabba its got lots of Character. A live Oak example. :) Larry

[ElijahW]

Ryan,

I was pretty much thinking what Larry wrote. In the Northeast, trees also have snow plows and regular road resurfacing to contend with. I don't have any pictures handy to post, but fences can also be swallowed up by trees and cause some big bulges on the trunk. That particular phenomenon is pretty common along hedgerows and old pasture borders, as you may well be aware of. In my neck of the woods, sugar maples seem to be the most common roadside tree, and suffer greatly for it; though they don't seem to heal nearly as well as your bulbous specimen.

Elijah

[Chris]

They have that "World’s Ugliest Dog Contest"!

[tomhoward]

The Northern Red Oak at North Syracuse Cemetery that Elijah refers to is actually a double, and a very impressive one at that. It's a gnarly, burly combination of 2 trees that I think are about 150 years old or so. One of the trunks loses its leaves later than the other half. The lower trunks of both of these trees are among the gnarliest I've ever seen. Both trees are open-grown and not more than 55 ft. tall. Here is a photo of the double Red Oak. I don't have a closeup of the huge burls on the lower trunk.

Tom Howard

[Marcboston]

What town and how do you find that Jabba the Hutt Oak. Awesome tree! I love old gnarly trees!

On a side note: Any news about the Granby Oak?

[RyanLeClair]

The tree is in Newtown, CT, not far from my hometown. However, I really can't remember what road it was on or what part of Newtown it was in. :\

I think the Granby Oak is only a ghost of its former self, sadly. An NTS member reported the tree lost half of its crown in the Halloween 2011 storm. I myself haven't seen the tree since summer 2011.