Beaufort's Tricentennial welcomes Live Oak Expert

Michael Murphy Of Beaufort welcomes Professor Henri Grissino-Mayer

Cool prop for the Beaufort Project

The City of Beaufort is celebrating 300 years of their city’s charter with the Three Century Project that culminates with a tri-centennial day on January 17, 2011. They held a Live Oak Symposium on April 29 in Beaufort to recognize the significance of Beaufort’s treescape, and to recognize some of the area’s largest trees as reported by residents. Local arborist Michael Murphy welcomed Professor of Dendrochronolgy Henri Grissino-Mayer from the University of Tennessee, who spoke about the science of tree rings. Grissino-Mayer displayed several cross sections of old trees on the podium and declared that the aging of trees through the study (or counting) of tree rings is a very exact science. Grissino-Mayer said, “A dendrochronologist can give you the exact age of a tree by studying the tree rings, it is not to the closest decade, it’s exact year can be determined.” The professor was recently summoned to Augusta National Golf Course to age an oak that was toppled before the Masters, and he dated it as being from 1875. Beaufort resident Murphy said, “These Live oaks hide their age much like a Southern Belle might.” While it is hard to accurately state the age of the oldest living Live Oaks, it can be agreed that they are old. Live Oak allees and landmark riverside sentinels inspire reverence from all people. Some trees like the “Secession Oak” in Bluffton, which today wears a tremendous canopy, offered shade to colonial planters who aspired to have South Carolina independent of England. Similar Live Oak tree stories make up the fabric of the history of the Lowcountry!

To view past Field Notes click on July 2015 - June 2015 - February 2105 - October 2014 -  September 2014 - August 2014 - June 2014 - March 2012 - February 2012 - October 2011 - September 2011