It’s one of those things that can almost slip by. There was a story that started popping up over the last day or two about the oldest tree in the province. A hemlock that was thought to be around 532. I say thought, because counting the rings on this tree required the use of a microscope. So if it was off by a year or two either way, that’s understandable.
You don’t have to cut down a tree to count the rings. You just need to take a core sample using what is called an increment borer. I’ve done it a few times myself, although it has been a few years. But I never had to use a microscope to get an age.
But how do they know this is the oldest tree in the province? They likely don’t. Not too long ago it was thought that a tree that was a mere 418 years old was the oldest. That was about fifteen years ago. I know we’ve had some rough years lately, but not even that can age a tree a hundred years in a decade and a half. So this one was missed.
According to what they were saying, this tree was in an old growth stand on the former Bowater lands. In some ways, it’s too bad the tree can’t talk. It has probably seen a lot in 532 years. At least it’s fun to think about.
And I always have liked hemlock stands. There is something that seems very peaceful about them. You tend to not get a lot of undergrowth, because you have a bunch of big trees blocking out the sunlight to anything below. But that adds to the charm. And also tends to encourage things like mushrooms, which I also find rather interesting. But it makes them great places to walk around.
But that is one old tree. I’ve seen some pretty big hemlocks that I suspect are pretty old, but I have no idea exactly how old.
this tree was discovered by a couple of university students who sampled about a hundred trees in the area. Even they couldn’t believe what they found. But that was the number they came up with. Some of the rings are pretty close together, which is why they had to use a microscope, but those tight rings apparently have helped keep the tree strong. And it’s not like we don’t get a bit of wind around here.
There could even be an older tree hiding somewhere in the woods. Hard to tell. They don’t usually brag about their age. And I don’t think they car much about birthdays. Which is probably a good thing. Cake might be okay, but you probably don’t want to light the candles.
