In New Hampshire, our trees tend to be relatively young. But today, Iain talks about one species of tree that has been in the state for over 600 years.
May 30, 2003:
I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and this is Something Wild.
New Hampshire's forests have been logged several times over. So most of our trees are less than 100 years old. However, one tree species has some pretty old specimens still standing.
I'm talking about the Black Gum tree. Or the black tupelo, pepperidge, or sour gum-they're all names for the same tree. You can find this denizen of swamps in pockets in southern New Hampshire, although individual trees can be found as far north as Newfound Lake. It can be identified by its distinct, deeply furrowed, light-gray bark and the way that the branches grow nearly perpendicular to the trunk.
New Hampshire is about as far north as black gums grow - it can be found from Florida to southwestern Maine and as far west as Texas. But it is pretty rare around here.
The other notable thing about them is their longevity. The oldest tree in New Hampshire is a black gum that is at least 680 years old. And that tree isn't all that unusual; a recently discovered stand was estimated to be at least 300 years old.
The main reason why we still have some old black gums around is we never had enough to make them commercially viable. Most loggers just ignored them, although it has been used to make things like ox yokes and tool handles-anything where you need a really tough wood.
Despite its name, the black gum does not produce a gum, but the dark-colored fruit is an important food source for migrating birds in the fall and many mammals.
Six hundred and eighty years old. Think of all the things that tree has lived through?
If you have a natural history question that you would like answered on Something Wild, email us at somethingwild@ nhpr.org.
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain MacLeod.
