IVANHOE — Not far from Haw Bluff Church is a stretch of the Black River that is home to something spectacular and special — a tree that is the fifth-oldest tree species in entire world.
The Nature Conservancy took a group out on a paddle adventure into the deep, dank bowels of the river to visit a stand of ancient bald cypress.
“It’s been amazing to work on something since 1980 or so on the Black River,” said Julie Moore, a tree enthusiast and Black River advocate. “I have to say that I have been immersed in it more than once.”
She shared an article she had found from Audubon magazine from the 1990s that had the the Black River and some of the old trees featured, called Methuselah locally.
“We have been on this site for a long time and this is project that grows in importance,” she said. “There is no other place like this. This is a special place.”
Dr. David Stahle, from the University of Arkansas, along with others that have worked on this, stopped at the bank of the river to explain the history and significance of this particular tree.
“Just like you can age classify humans, you learn after a while if you study trees,” he said. “They don’t hide their age well.”
Some of the trees are entirely hollow, open for viewing all the way to the heavens. Most are partly hollow but some are solid, he said.
“We will never know the real age of the hollow guys,” he said. “Some of which I think are older than 3,000 years old. You can’t specifically tell how old they are by looking. But you can classify them in broad age categories.”
Stahle explained that it is not size that determines who is the oldest. Trees can be slow growing and the rings in a tree tell the story of the weather patterns and of many other factors. More water and nutrients means a thicker ring that year, and so if a tree is not getting those nutrients the rings would be tighter together.
The study of these trees is called dendrochronology.
Stahle even thinks there are probably trees more than 3,000-plus years old hidden away.
“We now have cores from 204 trees, total,” he said. “There are tens of thousands of trees out here and we haven’t even seen them.”
One of the trees dates from around 605 B.C. with trees in the stands over 2,500 years old.
The location of this particular stand of trees is reasonably accessible, once down a dirt path to the river. To get to the trees is a bit of a trip, and one that could be particularly challenging at lower water levels; there are some sandbars to cross.
“We have protected about 19,200 acres out here,” said Debbie Crane, the communications director of the Nature Conservancy North Carolina chapter. “That is along the whole stretch of the 66-mile river. We still want to acquire more property.”
Julie Moore (left) and David Stahle (center) listen as Debbie Crane explains what the Nature Conservancy is doing on the Black River.
Approximately 20 people went in the Black River in canoes and kayaks to see a stand of ancient trees.
Julie Moore (left) a tree enthusiast and Dr. David Stahle led a group to see some of the majestic ancient beauties on the Black River.
This is the skirt of the oldest tree that has been found so far; however, the team is convinced there are probably even older trees out there.