Date: Fri 01-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Forest-Association-White-pine

Full Text:

NFA Places A Bounty On Town's Biggest White Pine

(with entry form & illustrations)

The Newtown Forest Association wants to award $500 cash to the first Newtown

person or organization that reports the location of the town's largest living

White pine.

Like the Shagbark hickory contest which the forest association ran last year,

the intent is to find the largest White pine so that a local tree nursery can

propagate the tree from seed or vegetatively. The association then will plant

replicas on some of its 60 parcels of Newtown land and also will arrange for

year-old trees to be offered to Newtown residents who wish to plant them on

their own land.

"This great tree is a Newtown asset and is worth preserving," said forest

association board member Allen Flouten, who created the tree contest last

year.

The forest association also hopes the contest will increase awareness and

appreciation of the variety of trees and other plant life in the area and will

allow people to explore and enjoy the public lands available to everyone in

town. The winning tree can be anywhere in Newtown, but contestants must obtain

the owner's permission before entering any private land.

The contest, which officially began on Arbor Day, will end in August when the

winner is announced.

For 300 years until well into this century, White pine grew over much of

eastern North America from Georgia to northern Canada, and was unrivaled as a

timber producing tree. The White pine can reach heights of 150 feet and grow

four feet in diameter. Its high strength and light weight made it valuable for

ships masts and railroad ties. When the original old growth forests in the

East were finally depleted, lumbering turned to the forests in the Pacific

Northwest.

Contestants can identify a White pine by the shape of the tree, its needles

and pine cone. Examples of White pines also may be seen at the double gate

entrance of the Newtown Village Cemetery on Elm Drive, across from the Ram

Pasture.

Also called the soft, sapling, pumpkin, or Weymouth pine, the White pine,

Pinus Strobus Linnaeus, has thin, soft needles which grow five to a bundle,

three to five inches long. The needles are bluish green; the lower side with

two white lines; a papery brown sheath at the base of the bundle. The male

tree has yellow flowers, the female bright pink with purple rimmed scales.

The cones grow on stalks one-half inch long, are drooping, four to eight

inches long, and light reddish brown when ripe. The bark on young trees is

smooth, green and shining, and becomes purplish on older boughs and is

furrowed on old trunks. The wood is very soft, close grained, very light with

white sap wood and reddish heart wood.

Last year's contest was a great success, producing two state records. Brian

Smith, 9, of Grand Place found the record Shagbark hickory. In the process of

verifying the entries, a state record Oriental spruce was located in town.

"There may be another tree out there waiting to be discovered and to bring

fame and fortune to the lucky adventurer who spots it," said Mr Flouten. "This

is a good reason to take a walk in the woods, especially after a long winter."

Additional information and official entry forms are available at the Cyrenius

H. Booth Library or by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to: Newtown

Forest Association, PO Box 213, Newtown CT 06470.

Founded in 1924, the association is Connecticut's oldest land trust, a

non-profit organization staffed by volunteers.