SAVANNAH STREET TREES

The general appearance of the Park or Square should be pleasing to the eye in all its approaches; its make-up so arranged as to give a changing variety in the different outlooks.  It is, therefore, a place to be relieved as much as possible from monotony and rigid lines.”

– An Examination of the Street and Park Trees of Savannah, Georgia, Park and Tree Commission, Savanna, Georgia,  Bulletin 1, Geo B. Sudworth, April, 1897

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Sabal palmetto

The beautiful city begins.

Along the street opposite city hall, Savannah, Georgia, the Sabal palmetto creates a formal planting worthy of an important city. Savannah   makes an impression on the American landscape that is imaginative and unforgettable.

Savannah, Georgia has survived and persevered. It has since preserved, conserved and restored a sense and vision of a city rarely glimpsed in the contemporary landscape, however Savannah was mostly preserved, and to walk through this city is a pleasure.

A vision was created and abided by for many years, a vision of public squares and trees. We oohed and awed at the architecture and the distinctly southern grandeur and refinement of taste; a blend of urbanism, gardening and public spaces- a graciousness rarely afforded in such splendor in other urban areas we have experienced- here it is, the panoramic of a storied city, this unforgettable, treed vista of understanding and conscious practice of arbor-culture that blends beautifully with the built and ever-so lived in city-scape.

The street trees of Savannah are often planted in a line, but are just as often found in the state of intersection, combined together telling a story of the favored trees of a particular era, the trees that have persisted, and even trees that were imported from other continents. Below is an assemblage of Live Oaks in the back-round, with Sabal palmetto in the foreground, mixed with the lower growing Butia capitata, the Pindo Palm – a South American import.  This lush greenery in a higher density neighborhood of row-houses with on street parking, all of which is highly coveted real-estate.

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The charm of brick sidewalks and streets has been preserved, providing a warm texture and color to the urban landscape.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

A row of Butia capitata, the South American Pindo Palms. Below, Isabelle poses with an Asian Magnolia blooming away down by the waterfront.

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Magnolia grandiflora
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Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

This is the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), planted as a street tree here in Savannah. Much can be said of this Grand Dame of  a native Magnolia. It is an evergreen giving even a dull February day some degree of distinction.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Note how much space is dedicated to the trees, still sharing with parking meters and telephone poles.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Much of Savannah retains the feel of a city with a residential quality, lots of porches, brick, walkability, with short blocks, all of them near squares. It could use a streetcar system to further enhance transportation and reduce auto traffic.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

This above, appears to be the Savannah Holly, Ilex attenuata ‘savannah’.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

And the Crepe Myrtle,  Lagerstroemia. Often planted along highway intersections and large commercial and industrial properties and strip malls throughout the South, we found this elegantly pruned row as a street tree. These specific specimens were trained in the multi-stemmed form of this Asian Tree/shrub.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Below, these Crepe Myrtles have been……Pollarded perhaps?  This is done to increase the flowering density, but at the expense of having to look at a butchered stub for the other half of the year.

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Here the Crepe Myrtles  are kept gracefully as a street tree.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

In the next few pictures we show the use of the Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta) planted street-side.

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Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

On this block, there is more of a feeling of being in a forest than on a city block. The vegetation must contribute to cooler temperatures in the heat of the summer.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

From a distance, what appears to be the blooming Red Maple across the street. There is the possibility this specimen could be crossed with a Silver Maple.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Quercus virginiana

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

The Southern Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana) is the most iconic tree of Savannah, Georgia. The evergreen Live Oaks with their drooping, curvaceous branches, draped in Spanish moss create the most atmospheric Southern quality to Savannah’s streets and public squares.  The city planners may have had some to work with in the early layouts, but they also had to plant and design the city with these trees in mind, and now we get to enjoy them in their maturity.

These trees are the essence of the patina of age a city can inherit from the aesthetically minded and articulate city planners and engaged citizens who despised the monotony of thoughtless development and sought to nurture and create the iconic Savannah we can enjoy today.

Perhaps as the city expanded outwards  in the ever growing need for housing and the accommodations of business, land was being cleared for building, but the founding lawmakers, developers and owners had all experienced the qualities of this native tree on a piece of land; its shade in the summer and greenery in the winter; and perhaps they also saw them felled on city lots to be slated for development, or sold for ship-building as these trees provided excellent structural components for curves in the hulls of ships- and their loss, especially in the summer’s sun proved to be unforgettable: and the trees were soon kept in place or re-planted as saplings in the implemented planning of blocks , homes and public squares.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Always thinking even on holiday, exactly what is it that makes a beautiful, unforgettable city? There is no one answer, of course, because every city is in a different place, with a different geology, climate, and topography and history. For those who are working actively to improve their own cities and towns, neighborhoods and blocks, the same issues arise above the obvious ones of safety and comfort: walkability, sense of community, access to commerce and other communities. The sense that neighbors are looking out for each other or at least there are actually neighbors that may care about your well-being.

Public spaces that are actively utilized and are alive with the community. These are just some of the qualities of a functioning city, the city we want to live in. There are many manifestations of the utopian urban setting proposed and built, and Savannah has one that is quite pleasant and its aesthetic qualities of urban development and maintenance are worth considering.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Cities are becoming much more attractive places to live and work and more and more are people looking to cities as places to lay down roots, invest in property and become civically involved. As those of us who are getting into the issues of city living, owning your homes, and developing roots in your new neighborhoods, joining zoning committees, planning sessions, urban gardening or even doing city planning, we must see the cities that are beautiful and appeal to our senses, and see what they are composed of, like Savannah, Georgia.

Right now, cities like  our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are undergoing this transformation in some sections. There is a strong movement towards Philadelphia’s new urbanism, from a solid economic sense to a visionary idealistic desire, both of which are closing in on each other which is why Philadelphia is most definitely an important city to watch. Philadelphia’s sheer magnitude and population is relegated into a grid of row-houses that is oriented more in relation to its two rivers than strickly North-South. Its expansive park system is one of the largest in the world for a city of this size, and includes numerous squares and public spaces throughout with plans for more “micro parklets”.  It is also the lucky inheritor of an extensive public transportation system that includes trolleys and subways.  The new urbanism in Philadelphia is growing with city Planning in mind as well as gardening, urban farming, political activism, art, music, literature and  culture. All of this occurring side by side with an antiquated political system, vast wastelands of urban planning mishaps, some still on the drawing-boards , poverty and blight.

However, the infrastructure of what makes a beautiful city is in Philadelphia as well- if the houses were repaired in a sensitive manner and there were appropriately planted street trees that were cared for, like in Savannah. The row houses of Philadelphia, like in Savannah are everything that new urbanism requires: environmental viability in terms of efficiency, and the urban density that makes neighborhoods lively  but not overcrowded, buildings own-able and relatively easy to care for. Rowhouses also offer an opportunity for architectural splendor, most opportunities of this have been squandered since the 1950s, but there is plenty of intact housing stock left dating back to the 18th century. When walking the streets of Savannah it became increasingly apparent that these views of row-houses, generous porches and ample public  green spaces could be in Philly. Maybe what could be done with some of Philadelphia’s vast amounts of vacant land.

 

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

While Savannah and its street and park trees will always remain unique in its atmospheric qualities, history and aesthetic patina of culture and location, it is these very things that every city must embrace to re-establish themselves as livable places again. Often removing something that is awful and misplaced can help revive a once beautiful city, such as a highway.  San Francisco, already beautiful,  liberated its waterfront by removing a highway.  One day, NYC hopes to remove Madison Square Garden, a horrific 1960s stadium in the middle of the city.  Save what is there that creates a sense of place, and re-invent by looking at what works in the cities that are magnificent and iconic.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Savannah has that sense of place. This is not accidental or an after effect of some other great series of events  beyond our control, rather it is a result of carefully thought-out plans and ideas, such as this one written in 1897  from An Examination of the Street and Park Trees of Savannah, Georgia:  

Parks and squares should be retreats supplying in parts cool shade as well as pleasing sights for the eye. Unlike the street trees, not all the park trees are to play the role of shade producers; some will be for shade, while some will serve only as elements in a total or partial beautifying effect

–  Park and Tree Commission, Savanna, Georgia,  Bulletin 1, Geo B. Sudworth, April, 1897

Each and every tree was considered thoughtfully.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.comt

So these painted shutters and elegantly preserved brick facades and stoops of these rowhouses work together with the Magnolia grandiflora and Quercus virginiana to create a view of this quintessentially southern mercantile city, one of whose charm was conceived of  and cultivated with the very intent to charm.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

Quercus virginiana, bark and trunk.

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com
Savannah Street Trees, www.thesanguineroot.com

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And lastly, we visit a brand new city, Suwannee, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. Here the developers embraced some of the ideas of the new urbanism and planned their community around row-houses grouped around public greens, newly planted with Quercus virginiana, the Live Oak, and named the green Savannah. These houses were situated adjacent to a commercial area designed to look like a typical Georgia town, surrounding a green. Here is a genuine decision to create a sense of place, with housing that can create a community alongside public space and walking distance from commercial interests. On top of that this community is located next to a huge park with over five miles of walking trails!

Suwannee, Georgia, housing development
Suwannee, Georgia, housing development. www.thesanguineroot.com

This new city lacks the patina of age, but it has all of the intentions of that sense of place! It is very instructional seeing pictures of newly -built developments whether it is in the 1890s or recently, the lack of trees or the small size of them. How much properly appointed and well thought-out plantings of trees contribute to the atmosphere of a city is astonishing. In a neighborhood with old majestic trees, one can benefit from such foresight and the shade and beauty; however likely there will be disappointment when these trees must be taken down inevitably, as such lamentations were expressed in the local Savannah papers about the removal of a dying but much -loved tree in one of the squares. In a contrasting light, the inhabitants of this new square Savannah get the pleasure of watching these Live Oaks grow.

Suwannee, Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com
Suwannee, Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOLF CREEK TROUT LILY PRESERVE

THE SANGUINE ROOT VISITS THE WOLF CREEK TROUT LILY PRESERVE IN GRADY COUNTY GEORGIA DURING PEAK BLOOM. MILLIONS OF BLOOMING DIMPLED TROUT LILIES CARPET 15 ACRES OF A NORTH FACING HARDWOOD HILLSIDE IN THE AFTERNOON SUN, MONDAY FEBRUARY 24TH, 2014.

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve

We had been wanting to visit this place for a long time, and the opportunity arose as it just happened to coincide with our winter vacation to neighboring Thomasville, Georgia. Seeing this  preserve at peak bloom was also a very lucky moment in our travels. The stars were indeed aligned just right for us on this balmy, sunny afternoon in this southern Georgia hardwood forest.

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Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com

Erythronium umbilicatum, the Dimpled Trout Lily

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Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com

Trillium maculatum, the spotted Trillium

Trillium maculatum, Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Trillium maculatum, Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Trillium maculatum, the spotted trillium, Wolf crek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County , Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com
Trillium maculatum, the spotted trillium, Wolf creek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County , Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

For us northerners, seeing this vast hillside of green flowering things at the end of February was a sight to behold! blooming amidst Saw Palmetto and the Trout lilies, the Trilliums were truly pleasing to the eye and welcoming to the camera’s lens. The Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve encourages photography.

This is a place of spectacular beauty, a place that entirely transcends the monotonous landscapes of the developments and highways, the attempts at landscaping and the increasing lack of a sense of place that is dominating the developed vistas of America at this time. A place like this gives us a sense of where we are and when; it is a place where we retain a perspective on the location and the season, on the speciation found in the natural world around us. When we find ourselves marveling in the beauty of other species and in the places we find, discover and seek them out, we are further enlightened and enabled into the landscape.

This is one of those places, so unique in its location, and so rare and abundant, a place similar to this is usually found hundreds of miles north in the Appalachian Mountains. Why this is located here in Southern Georgia is possibly related to the Ice Ages. An astounding place such as this makes us think of botanical history in relation to geological history; an exercise that helps us stretch our minds into the milleniums past; here is a place where we see beauty and excite fascination in the times that have existed long before us.

Just some of the other species at Wolf Creek: Southern Twayblade Orchid (Listera australis), Greenfly Orchid (Epidendrum magnoliae), Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhiza wisteriana) , Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and of course many, many others such as Oaks, maples, beeches and blueberries, Saw Palmetto, just for starters to get you interested!

 

 

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com

The story behind how the Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve was created is inspirational. It was to be developed into housing. It had been known for a long time as a property with a noteworthy wildflower population, and it took the efforts of very dedicated people to save it from destruction.

From reading the history, it could be argued that this land was saved because of the housing market collapse in 2007-2008.

Now it is owned by Grady County and is preserved in perpetuity as a preserve. This did not come easy, however, and the story of its preservation is a inspiring reminder of what it takes to retain the beauty in the world around us.

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com

Here is a trillium with four leaves, folks. They are named for their three leaves, petals, sepals. Oddities, always in nature, making the world go round.

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve  www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve www.thesanguineroot.com

These Trout Lilies exhibit the recurved petals so distinguishing of this flower. note the Trillium maculatum in the backround.

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve  www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve www.thesanguineroot.com

This photo was taken in the best spot (noted in the brochure), where the vantage point of Trout Lily coverage is maximized. You can see the pitch of the slope in the horizon, which is helpful in getting a feel for the landscape.

The caretakers of this preserve have gone to great extents to make our visit truly pleasurable, from creating a great website, promoting it in the local papers, facilitating parking arrangements, creating signage, brochures, and maps. There was a box full of brochures in the parking area that approached the topics of native plants, invasive plants and ecology.  As we walked into the preserve there were signs that reminded us to stay on the trails. we found ourselves taking extra precautions on the trails to not step on any Trout Lilies or Trilliums. (It takes years for a single Trout Lily plant to make it to bloom, so to step on one and crush it in the act of trying to appreciate it is antithetical to the exercise)

Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com
Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, www.thesanguineroot.com

Here we are, Sean Solomon and Isabelle Dijols, finally at the long awaited and oft talked about Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve. (Photo by Cathy Smith)

Photo by Isabelle Dijols, Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com
Photo by Isabelle Dijols, Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County Georgia. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS

THE SANGUINE ROOT VISITS  GEORGIA

Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood - Thomasville, Georgia
Cornus florida – Flowering Dogwood – Thomasville, Georgia

Driving south from Pennsylvania in the first week of March is a unique experience. As the miles pass, so does the sense of time and the acceleration of the much anticipated spring season.  All of a sudden, we started seeing blooming Red Maple trees, and as we traveled through South Carolina we started to see the blossoms of Redbud trees in the woods along the highway. The South Carolina Welcome Center had a blooming Daffodil. In the next few weeks here in Philly, we will be seeing plenty of  Daffodils, but it is the first one that we remember the most.

We crossed the Savannah River and entered the State of Georgia, where there was a welcome center that provided us a free map, which was much needed and got heavy use throughout our trip. The parking area had a landscaped picnic spot, however we were drawn to the back of the parking lot, where there was a wooded area that sloped down to the Savannah River.  From what we could tell, the contract for the landscapers ended about 10 feet from the edge of the  asphalt parking lot.  The rest was history.  A swath of untouched woods for many years, right there for us to explore. After a long morning in the car, clocking some heavy miles towards our southern destination of Thomasville Georgia, a half hour in these woods was a special treat.

We are now in Georgia!

Cercis canadensis - Augusta, Georgia
Cercis canadensis – Augusta, Georgia

The woods between the Georgia welcome center and the Savannah River. We had to penetrate a thicket of the invasive exotics Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)and Euonymus alatus (Burning bush) to find wild blooming Cercis canadensis, (Eastern Redbud), and a most unexpected surprise, the native Lonicera sempervirens, our Coral honeysuckle choking out an invasive exotic burning bush- a reversal of the usual scene of an invasive vine choking a native shrub or tree.

Lonecera sempervirens - our native honeysuckle - I-20 Georgia Welcome Center - Augusta, Georgia
Lonicera sempervirens – our native honeysuckle – I-20 Georgia Welcome Center – Augusta, Georgia

What a pleasant sight to behold.  A flowering native honeysuckle growing in the wild right next to our rest stop. Note the fused leaves below the flower, a signature feature of this plant. All around was the invasive exotic Japanese honeysuckle, so to find this was exciting.  Last fall, the Sanguine Root Environmental Restoration Team spent weeks in an area of Morris Park just like this, removing the exotic invasive honeysuckle and preserving the native one. They are very similar in appearance and were often twining up the same trees.  We have become experts in the botanical differences between the two species and have learned to tell the difference on the spot, in an instant. We would love to share with you these details in the future.

Bluets - I-20 Georgia Welcome Center - Augusta, Georgia
Bluets – I-20 Georgia Welcome Center – Augusta, Georgia

In a mowed area near the Parking lot we found a colony of Bluets.  This low-growing native flower likes to grow among moss.

The most spectacular and exquisite features of the rest stop were off the beaten path and were not intended to be showcased.  Our next destination before Thomasville was 3 hours away in the Oconee National Forest.  We had no idea what to expect except that it was a green splotch on our new map, a bit southeast of Atlanta.  The basic rule of thumb for our trip was to set a goal for the day’s travel, get up as early as the laws of physics will allow so that we can explore that green patch on the map in the mid-point of the day’s drive.  A green splotch usually means a park of some sort, a nice place to stop, and a potentially memorable experience that can last a lifetime.  We will never forget finding the Native Lonicera sempervirens and the bluets at the Georgia Welcome Center.

"Resurrection Fern" -Oconee National Forest, Georgia
“Resurrection Fern” -Oconee National Forest, Georgia

In this post we will do our best to cover some of Georgia’s  most beautiful woodlands and natural areas. To do it justice would require at least a shelf of reference books, a wealth of historical collections and some novels on top of that. All we had was our free Georgia map, some digital cameras, and an open mind . When we got to Thomasville, our knowledgable guide was able to show us old-growth forests and tell the story of their continual survival. By the time we crossed the Savannah River on our way out of Georgia to South Carolina, we had a pretty good idea of the Georgia woods. In our estimation, a pretty good idea means having more questions than answers at immediate hand. The more questions you have about something, the  more you know that thing.

Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Oconee National Forest, Georgia

This little plant was about 8 inches tall.  An Atlantic white cedar sapling? Anyone have a guess or authoritative answer?

Cornus florida - Dogwood - Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Cornus florida – Dogwood – Oconee National Forest, Georgia

This one we know.  Cornus florida, a Dogwood tree.

Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Oconee National Forest, Georgia

Here we first encountered evidence of fire. At one point the trees had burned in the area where their trunks meet the forest floor. Could it have been a natural fire or a man-made one?

Shagbark Hickory, Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Shagbark Hickory, Oconee National Forest, Georgia

The unmistakable trunk of the Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata).

Resurrection fern, Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Resurrection fern, Oconee National Forest, Georgia

Our first ever sighting of the Resurrection fern (Polypodium polypodioides). This fern weathers drought conditions in this wilted state. When exposed to moisture, the fern perks right up and carries on about its business.

Dogwood in the wild, Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Dogwood in the wild, Oconee National Forest, Georgia

Cornus florida

A tale of two Dogwoods.  Both about the same size and growth habit, but living in two different conditions.  The one at the top is growing in the wild in the Oconee National Forest, and the one at bottom is a Thomasville Georgia Street tree, carefully doted over, pruned and blooming.  The wild one has moss and Resurrection fern growing on it, along with many dead branches.

Dogwood in cultivation, A street tree in Thomasville Georgia
Dogwood in cultivation, A street tree in Thomasville Georgia

The young dogwood sapling grows in the wild near its decayed ancestors. Isabelle found this one.

Dogwood in the wild with Isabelle Dijols, Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Dogwood in the wild with Isabelle Dijols, Oconee National Forest, Georgia

The Longleaf pines, the Shagbark hickory, Flowering dogwood and the Oaks we saw in this area all had something in common: they are trees that survive a forest fire, whether natural or prescribed.  We noticed something about the bark in each of these trees; that it was thick and scaly, and had the outermost sections peeling a bit, with a noticeably increased surface area.

Sean Solomon with the Pines and Oaks of the Oconee National Forest, Georgia
Sean Solomon with the Pines and Oaks of the Oconee National Forest, Georgia

For a tree to weather forest fires would require a thick bark, to protect the living tissue from sustained damage.  But the peeling bark, with increased surface area seems to invite fire, with more to burn available easily. This raised a lot of questions.  Do these trees want to invite fire by creating dry, papery bark fragments so easily peeled off with one’s hands? That it is in their best interests to keep a forest fire alive by providing fuel for the fire?

Or perhaps in combination with keeping a fire alive is also the need to keep a fire moving right along, so that it does not linger and burn the trees down completely.  Perhaps the papery bark insures the fire burns really hot, so quickly that it sucks the oxygen right out of the spot, so that the fire chokes itself out and is forced to move to another location, sparing the tree actual damage. Sort of like how quickly that rolled or crumpled up newspaper in the fireplace burns, but does not necessarily start the fire that burns all evening.  These thoughts are all pure speculation as to how it all works- we have had no time to do any research on this subject.

It is fun to observe, ask lots of questions and let the answers roll in.  Sometimes it is best to observe something on your own with little or no knowledge of the subject. This way you can have a unique perspective on the subject.  This can prove useful in analyzing and problem solving; seeing the bigger picture of a realm and connecting the dots in a constantly evolving ecosytem, often under stress.

Longleaf Pine begins its ascent into the canopy, near Thomasville Georgia
Longleaf Pine begins its ascent into the canopy, near Thomasville Georgia

Pinus palustris

THE SANGUINE ROOT IS INTRODUCED TO THE LONGLEAF PINE

The longleaf pine is a fascinating American tree and it has captured our imaginations. The Longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris) tells the story of life in the forests of southern Georgia with precision and finesse.  In its infancy, this tree presents itself in a form that resembles a tuft of grass or forest sedge. A grass-like radiance of  green needles arcs out of the forest floor, a mere tuft of life emerging from an often burned landscape, the charred forest floor of a southern Georgia landscape.  In a natural unaltered setting, this image is most likely in a yearly regularity  that necessitates the one square foot of green space the Longleaf pine  sapling creates. The Longleaf pine is a species of tree that is completely dependent on and at the same time, resistant to and encouraging of  fire.  Fire is the life-giving component of this tree, as well as water.  Without fire and water, this species would become extirpated from the forest.  The tree finds this relationship pretty straightforward, given its conditions. It can live for tens of years on very little water, and plenty of fire.  Longleaf Pine- detail of the young trunk, near Thomasville Georgia

Longleaf Pine- detail of the young trunk, near Thomasville Georgia

The detailed view of the trunk of the Longleaf Pine Sapling illustrates clearly its survival strategy in a drought and fire-prone environment: The intense surface area of this young trunk invites fire to rage. The fire burns hot and quick and some saplings will be consumed by this and a few will not. The fire will then move away from the location, after having burned as much as it can, in the conditions.  What remains is  a few specimens of Longleaf pine, now without competition of other specimens of Longleaf pine or other species. The few remaining specimens of Longleaf Pine will now have the opportunity to quickly grow and utilize the resources of water and sunlight newly available, without competition. And quickly grow they do. That ‘ tuft of grass’ looking thing that was there for a few years has all this time been developing a  taproot that reaches deep into the ground, to get a grasp on the moisture available  for survival. Still an innocuous ‘tuft’ the Longleaf pine waits for its moment. The drought and subsequent fires come. The fires burn everything exposed and some things are completely burned and some plants have been waiting for the fire for quite some time.  The Longleaf Pine Sapling ‘tuft of grass’ has been  there for years looking like nothing special, yet all this time digging deeper into the earth, tapping into the moisture source, growing its roots and waiting for the right moment to make its move…

Longleaf Pine- young trees, near Thomasville Georgia
Longleaf Pine- young trees, near Thomasville Georgia

After the big hot fire, and the few weeks after, The Longleaf Pine ‘Sapling’, makes its move. The tree uses all of its resources, and all of its energy to grow as fast and as tall as absolutely possible. It has a very limited time to achieve a certain status, or risk death by burning at the next fire season.

Longleaf Pine- young trees, near Thomasville Georgia
Longleaf Pine- young trees, near Thomasville Georgia

The picture above shows trees that are hundreds of years old next to mere whips, that are most likely a a few years older that you might think…

Recent prescribed burn, near Thomasville, Georgia
Recent prescribed burn, near Thomasville, Georgia

This is  still  a managed forest with prescribed  burns, so we expect a certain degree of  inauthenticity. However, The Longleaf pine persists. The area around Thomasville Georgia is unique and special in this manner and the Longleaf Pine in our best estimation, is being conserved and protected. This area is not a National Forest or State park or a Wildlife  Preserve as of yet, However, the longterm survival of this vast and rare ecosystem may become dependent on a status such as these mentioned in the future.

What has protected these unique and rare forests around Thomasville Georgia is purely economic. They have served as Quail and Deer hunting grounds for many years, and this status has protected thousands of acres of forest from development.  The hunting grounds around Thomasville Georgia have become an industry and economic base.  Uniquely, this economic necessity has resulted in land stewardship practices most in keeping with the thousands of years of evolution of this species.

rLive oak, near Thomasville Georgia

Live oak, near Thomasville Georgia

There is no trip to Georgia without a great welcome from the Live Oaks. Only  the Sanguine Root would bypass the Live oak in  favor of the Longleaf pine in covering Southern Georgia. That’s just who we are, and by the way, our coverage of Live Oaks and longleaf pine is only hours apart .  If any species feels neglected (or humans who are worried about a species), we are open and always ready to discuss the species. Please speak out.

Carolina jasmine, Thomasville Georgia
Carolina jasmine, Thomasville Georgia

We are talking about the first week of March here, and let us just say y’all have it going on with Carolina Jasmine! This native vine has us immediately enamored.

Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia
Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia

The age of these trees in comparison to the girth of their trunks is not what we are used to.  These trees can spend many years in drought conditions and do not expand in their diameter the way a tree would in a mesic deciduous forest.

Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia
Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia

The color of the soil indicates an iron-rich content.

Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia
Old-growth Forest, Thomasville, Georgia

 

A canopied road of Live Oaks near Thomasville, Georgia
A canopied road of Live Oaks near Thomasville, Georgia

We were enchanted by the beauty of the country roads on the hunting plantations around Thomasville.

A canopied road of Live Oaks near Thomasville, Georgia
A canopied road of Live Oaks near Thomasville, Georgia
4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail
4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail

Here is some of the tree ring growth measurements in a cross section of a tree that was cut down in the early 1890s. Click on the image for further details.

 

4-X-8-yellow-pine timber-age-labeled ring counting project and photography courtesy of Mark Daniel
4-X-8-yellow-pine timber-age-labeled ring counting project and photography courtesy of Mark Daniel

4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail

4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail

4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail

4-X-8-Pine-Timber-ring-count-detail

Cypress in a prescribed burn
Cypress in a prescribed burn

We wonder how a cypress swamp fares in a prescribed burn.

Cypress in a prescribed burn
Cypress in a prescribed burn,

 

Near Thomasville, Georgia
Near Thomasville, Georgia

We saw a family of turtles on a log as we pulled up to this area.

prescribed-burn-2, Thomasville, Georgia
prescribed-burn-2, Thomasville, Georgia,

This fabulous photo of a prescribed burn did not come easy.  During our visit to southern Georgia, the Sanguine Root staff witnessed burns like this along the way, in the plantations around Thomasville. However we never thought that we needed to stop for a shot so that we could tell the full story. The fire was so small that we knew that we could get a better one down the road. Always on the lookout for a better fire, we never got a chance to take a picture of one.  Mark Daniel kept his eye out for one after we departed and eventually found a good fire and created an image for The Sanguine Root.  Thanks Mark.

T-ville-pine-forest-typical before a prescribed burn, Photo courtesy of Mark Daniel
T-ville-pine-forest-typical before a prescribed burn, Photo courtesy of Mark Daniel
T-ville-pine-forest-typical-prescribed-burn, the 'after' photo, courtesy of Mark Daniel
T-ville-pine-forest-typical-prescribed-burn, the ‘after’ photo, courtesy of Mark Daniel

Georgia is a beautiful state and the Sanguine Root looks forward to returning. Thanks for the map!

Isabelle Dijols and Sean Solomon In southern Georgia
Isabelle Dijols and Sean Solomon In southern Georgia