Ancient cypress

This is one of the very old cypress trees that stands in an area within the Black River, a tributary of the Cape Fear River. These ancient trees remain uncut, partly because of their inaccessability and some were undesireable for lumber because they are hollow. Because they were spared, they stand as the oldest trees east of the Rocky Mountains. They are surpassed solely by the bristlecone pines near Death Valley, California.










Dendrochronologists doing a climate study in 1996 took a core from one tree and counted the rings. It was over 1700 years old! The core was taken at 15 feet above the ground so the tree would be older than 1700 years. There are many trees that are larger than the one that they cored but because they are hollow the rings cannot be counted. Some of the trees here are expected to be over 2000 years old. I saw this grove of trees this summer (2007) when the water was low. Here is a picture taken looking up at the top of one of the larger ones. Now that I have a Kayak I want to go back soon.