Tough to wrap your arms around this one

No matter what your personal "wing span" might be, it would be tough to wrap your arms around a tamarack tree near Corbe House at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. It was recently named an Indiana Big Tree State Champion. This is the first tree at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to be selected as a state champion.

The tamarack (larix laricina) stands at a height of 78 feet with a circumference of 102.50 inches and a crown spread of 12.62 feet. In comparison, the largest such tree on the National Registry of Big Trees is 71 feet high, 133 inches in circumferences and crown spread of 60 feet.

So, what better time of year to go tree-watching than autumn when nature gives us a style show of brilliant colors before winter shivers the tall timbers? Nature’s beauty, certainly, will be in full array at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods soon where more than 300 acres of certified natural forest land can be enjoyed.

In April, 1999, an Eastern Hemlock (tsuga canadensis) was named a Vigo County Big Tree Champion with measurements of 50.60 feet in height, 82.00 inches in circumference and 19.35 in crown spread. A tamarack tree also was selected as Vigo County Big Tree Champion in 1999 with a height of 46.50 feet, circumference of 97.50 inches and a crown spread of 26.50 feet.

One year later, another tree was named Vigo County Big Tree Champion. A Kentucky coffee tree (gymnocladus dioicus) was measured at 83.40 feet tall, 135.00 inches in circumference and crown spread of 18.90 feet.

About 70 different species of trees can be found at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, many of which are native to the region. The Indiana Big Tree program is sponsored by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. Trees Inc. of Terre Haute presented the award.

(Photo provided by Janet Eger, district forester with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.)