Big Tree Hunt Part 2: It's Pronounced "Cray-po"

 

A pretty Ginkgo at Crapo Park

The champion Bald Cypress having been located—maybe?— at Aspen Grove Cemetery, the next stop on the Burlington Big Tree Hunt was the big, beautiful Crapo Park, located at the south end of town.

At 85 acres, Crapo Park is a bit smaller than Aspen Grove, and the landscape feels considerably more orderly. Established in 1895, the park includes, in addition to the arboretum, a small constructed lake housing goldfish; a memorial to Zebulon Pike, who is said to have raised the first U.S. flag on Iowa land in 1805 as he explored the Mississippi River; a replica log cabin; and a magnificent twisting red slide, among many other features.

But the draw for this day was the arboreal residents, specifically a few choice specimens of personal interest from the Big Tree list: Blackjack Oak and Dawn Redwood (a Bald Cypress lookalike). Again, my blundering about without a plan nearly rendered the quest impossible, but my steadfast companions, better planners and more adept with mobile data, discovered that Burlington has both a tree list and a tree map of Crapo Park, with trees marked with little numbered metal tags. So armed with the vague locations from the Big Tree list and the map, we walked the park west to east, admiring all the magnificent specimens along the way.

Champion Bur Oak at Crapo Park

Not on my list, but difficult to overlook, were the spreading branches of the champion Bur Oak, near the lake. The venerable specimen had a trunk circumference of almost 16 feet, with a crown that spreads over 100 feet. 

Near the "electric fountain" on the map was my first target: the Dawn Redwood ("Tree # 777' S. of baldcypress grove E. part of Crapo Park" as described on the Big Tree list). We located the grove of Bald Cypress trees easily enough, but where was the Dawn Redwood? None of the individuals in the area seemed to have the gravitas of a champion, with trunks fairly slender when considered against the earlier Bur Oak. 

Dawn Redwood, Crapo Park

But there, almost as if in disguise, was one tree whose leaves were just a little more green than the russet of the cypresses. A definitive numbered tag was not evident, but its location matched that shown on the map. An examination of the leaves confirmed the ID: the small leaflets were attached opposite one another, as opposed to alternating leaflets of a Bald Cypress. 

The #2 champion Dawn Redwood of Iowa is a tall, skinny thing: less than 5 feet around the trunk, and 67.5 feet tall. Unlike the Bald Cypress, Dawn Redwood is a native of China—though it was found on our continent tens of millions of years ago, alongside dinosaurs. It was thought to be extinct until it was "rediscovered" in 1941. Seed collected from those isolated groves was brought to the U.S. and propagated; Dawn Redwood is now a regular landscape tree. Any individuals planted here would be a relatively youthful 60 years of age or younger.

The second tree on our quest, the Blackjack Oak, was another somewhat puny individual. Tree # 465 along Potter Avenue was not of a stature that would rate a second look normally: 5.5 feet around the trunk, and just over 47 feet tall. This species is native to the southeastern U.S., with its range just barely reaching the very southern edge of Iowa. The leaves, described as bell-shaped, are quite distinct from those of what we might typically think of with the pointy lobes of red oaks and the rounded lobes of white oaks. This late in the season there wasn't much to it, many of the leaves having already dropped.

Blackjack Oak, tree # 465

Blackjack Oak's bell-shaped leaf

Do you know any state champion trees?  Why not plan a pilgrimage in the coming year and visit the state champion of your favorite tree?

(There are six champions in Iowa City. How many could you find?)

Sources/Additional Reading:

• National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form
• University of Kentucky Urban Forest Initiative: Dawn Redwood: 20th Century Botanical Discovery

Big Tree Hunt, Part 1: The Bald Cypress

Who doesn't love a big, beautiful tree? Those venerable neighbors who have inhabited our land for dozens, if not hundreds, of years, eluding the inexorable advance of both plow and bulldozer. Do you ever look at a massive trunk topped by a beautiful spreading crown and think, "That must be the biggest tree in the state!"?

Good news! Iowa has a "Big Tree" program that documents state champions of different species. What makes a champion? Trees are measured using three dimensions: height, crown spread, and trunk circumference. Those dimensions go into a formula that assigns a points value to the tree. The trees that have been documented with the highest point totals in each species can be found in a list published by the DNR. Although the program is technically under the aegis of the DNR, it relies on volunteers to do the heavy lifting, particularly one amazing and dedicated volunteer by the name of Mark Rouw. 

Iowa City boasts a number of champion trees, including a Hophornbeam in Hickory Hill Park, as well as several specimens on the University of Iowa campus featuring the state champion Black Walnut on the Pentacrest. (If you enjoy trees, be sure to explore the UI Campus Arboretum and its tree inventory map.)

The Sycamore Greenway doesn't have a lot of big trees (yet...check back in a few decades!). Like much of the state, it is a developed or constructed area and thus very "young" in terms of tree life. When I went in search of the champions of one of my favorites, the Bald Cypress, I discovered a treasure of big trees in an old river town just a day trip away.

Burlington, Iowa, is famous for Snake Alley, its crazy twisting brick road. But it also home of many champion trees, a significant number of which have escaped that plow and bulldozer by virtue of making their homes in a venerable cemetery and a spectacular city park, both of which were established well over a century ago. I set out, with much enthusiasm and very little plan, to visit some of those arboreal elders.

Pulling into Aspen Grove Cemetery and confronted with a spider web of narrow, winding roads and paths, that lack of plan was immediately apparent. My target was the #2 state champion Bald Cypress, the only one of its kind on the list with a location provided (the others apparently on private property). It was 84 feet high with a trunk circumference of around 11.5 feet.* How hard could it be to find a beautiful Bald Cypress that size? 

Well. 

First off, the cemetery itself is spectacular. Established in 1843, three years before Iowa became a state, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the final resting place of Aldo Leopold as well as many U.S. Representatives from the late 19th century. It also sprawls over 133 acres as the paths meander up and down hills, criss-crossing with named roads that would perhaps be helpful to someone who had an idea of where they were going. 

Alas, under the "Location of Tree" column on the Big Trees spreadsheet, it said only "Low ground, Aspen Grove Cem. Burlington, Des Moines Co." So after turning in the direction that seemed headed downhill every time I reached an intersection, unsure of whether I had wandered into an access road or somewhere else I wasn't supposed to be and attempting to behave in a respectful manner...there it was! Was it? 

To be perfectly honest...I don't know. It was a big, beautiful Bald Cypress and it seemed to be nestled in a sheltered depression, near a curious deep canal that lent an eerie and ancient atmosphere with the low, misty morning chill in the air. 

The spreading branches still held many of their leaves in early November, though a glowy russet color had replaced the soft summertime green. Below the branches a soft carpet of fallen leaves (needles? Some sources describe them as needles; some as leaves. Others split the difference and use "needlelike leaves) rest undisturbed. 

There on consecrated ground, with this living thing that had stood sentinel for decades as the town grew and faded and individual human lives came into and passed out of this earth...can an experience be mildly transcendent? 

But alas, my schedule did not include unlimited hours to commune with a tree, no matter how enthralling. The cemetery is home to other champions, including a Mockernut Hickory, Flowering Dogwood, and White Ash. But time being limited, I had to make my way to Burlington's other refuge for amazing trees: Crapo Park.  

To be continued....

*For comparison, the national champion Bald Cypress in Louisiana is just a bit taller, at 91 feet, though it has an impressive crown spread of 87 feet and its trunk measures a whopping 52 feet around.

Read more about Iowa's Big Trees:

• https://www.southeastiowaunion.com/environment-nature/iowas-big-trees-valuable-for-education-vulnerable-to-vandalism/
• https://www.inhf.org/blog/blog/chasing-champions/

Behind the Fence

On the north side of an impenetrable white vinyl fence, unseen and likely forgotten by those who built the fence, a little micro-habitat of opportunists thrives just out of reach of the trailside mower. 

Horseweeds, sowthistles, fleabane, dock, amaranth, a spiky flatsedge, and an enterprising grapevine are just a smattering of the dozens of plants making a community in this shady, 65-foot span. Even late in the season, into October, there were still some flowers available on the horseweeds and fleabane to bring an assortment of tiny pollinators, including a stunningly-patterned moth. 

Spotted Beet Webworm Moth

(Hymenia perspectalis, tentative)

Earlier in the season, this scrappy little patch would have barely merited a glance, when just opposite the Greenway was glowing with big, beautiful flowers everywhere. But squeezing out the last bits of summer, before the last flowers fade and the last insects disappear for the long winter months, it's a low-expectation oasis. 

Life happens when we give it a chance.