Measuring "The Senator"
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| Florida Champion
| Baldcypress Taxodium distichium Big Tree Park, Longwood Seminole County, Florida Circumference = 425 inches (35.4 feet)
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The Baldcypress is most always the largest and tallest tree in old swamp forests of the South. The State Tree of Louisiana is the universal symbol of the southeastern swamps, where it grows slowly, often reaching great size and age. Old-growth baldcypress from Florida to Illinois contain some of the oldest trees in North America, only surpassed in age by two or three western conifers.
The Senator, the current Florida Champion, is named for Florida Senator M.O. Overstreet, who donated the tree and surrounding land to Seminole County in 1951. In 1946, the American Forestry Association estimated The Senator's age was 3,500 years old.
On May 31, 1998, freelance climber Luke Hill, arborist Mike MacKiewicz, and Andy Kittsley, professional forester for the City of Orlando, climbed The Senator to take cuttings for cloning by the Florida Champion Tree Project. Special equipment and skill is required to climb this humongous 140 foot tree. Its lowest limbs are already over thirty feet above ground, and cuttings are best taken from the top of the crown—over 110 feet high. From the crown, Luke could see downtown Orlando, over a dozen miles away. All three climbers agreed the experience was their "personal best" tree.
For more on this effort to clone The Senator, see:
Cloning hits new, leafy heights
| Identification
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Unfortunately, this tree is proving very difficult to clone. Cuttings taken in 1998 failed to establish strong root systems. Further tree climbs of this tremendous specimen in 1999 and 2000 met with similar frustration. Undaunted, the Florida chapter tissue-taking team, led by Terry Mock, intends to continue their attempts to clone this magnificent tree.
| The Florida Champion Tree Project
Tissue-Taking Team |
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The National Champion Baldcypress, on Cat Island in Louisiana, is only 78 feet tall, but 15.6 feet in diameter (49 foot girth)—a short, squat "turnip" tree with 748 points. However, a heated rivalry between Florida and Louisiana contests which tree is the rightful champion. This controversy has been surfacing in regional newspapers:
The Senator Rises Above Controversy To resolve these disputes, many experts recommend using the measurement of total volume to decide the ultimate champion.Baldcypress is the largest and oldest tree in Illinois.
