The Division of Parks and Forestry of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection maintains a program that keeps track of special trees that exist throughout the state. Under the office of Community Forestry they maintain each year a list of the largest trees of each species in the state. All told they currently keep track of 102 species. These are all species that grow naturally in the state, and do not include species that have been planted here as individual specimens that are not native to the state. The most common species include seven types of maple, five birches, seven hickories, eight pines, and 17 oaks.
There’s a good chance that a walk through the woods anywhere in West Windsor or Plainsboro will reveal a large number of these species. When the weather gets cooler and the leaves start to fall, that’s a good time to take your walk and try out your tree identification skills. If you need help, take along a good tree book.
In fact, back in the mid-1990s when Friends of West Windsor Open Space (FOWWOS) was founded (1996), a large number of people in the area became genuinely interested in such matters and began to pay more attention to their natural surroundings, including what kinds of trees there were here. As far as I know there is no list of the species that grow in West Windsor or Plainsboro, but the number probably includes a large fraction of those native to the state as a whole.
In particular, we have at least one specimen of every type of oak tree that grows in the state. At least we did when the Rogers Arboretum was opened. It was known before he passed away that Ron Rogers was especially fond of oak trees, and when the arboretum was planned it was decided to include at least one of every species that grows in New Jersey.
Of special interest are what the state calls “Champion Trees.” These are the largest of each species that have been found in the state. Candidates for the designation “Champion Tree” are measured according to three criteria: average diameter of the trunk in inches at a height of 48 inches off the ground, the overall height in feet, and the width of the crown in feet.
The average diameter can be measured by using a tape to measure the girth or circumference and dividing that by pi (3.1416 is close enough). If someone suspects they have a candidate for a “Champion” designation they should notify the state and an inspector will be sent to examine the tree and make the necessary measurements. Candidates can be anywhere, of course, either on your own property or in the woods wherever you happen to be walking.
It’s a fact that champions do turn up almost anywhere, and FOWWOS had an example of this in its early experience. One of the properties that was proposed for preservation by the township as open space was located on the north side of Village Road West in the area west of where the Windsor Ponds development is today. As two FOWWOS members were walking around the property they noticed a very large tree growing at the side of a stream that was determined to be Hixon Run.
With the help of West Windsor’s landscape architect, Dan Dobromilski, it was identified as a swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor). As an oak, it has unusual leaves in that they have very slight lobes that are arranged evenly around the edge. Its acorns are unusual in that the cup sometimes nearly fully encloses the seed.
The tree’s girth was measured with a tape at about 17 feet. That’s an average diameter of well over five feet. But its height and crown dimensions were another matter, however, since they were far above ground and we didn’t have access to a large ladder on a truck or a helicopter.
Here’s where some engineering experience came in handy. I made up a simple sighting device with a straightedge, a hinge, and a protractor. By setting up the device a measured distance from the trunk and sighting the top and the edge of the crown along the straightedge so as to get the angle of view, the tree’s height and crown width were estimated at 95 feet each. That’s more than the distance from home plate to first base on a baseball diamond.
These numbers were sufficient for the state DEP to be notified. An official inspector was sent out, and he confirmed the measurements and declared that our tree was indeed the Champion Swamp White Oak in the state of New Jersey. It was estimated to be between 250 and 275 years old. That means it was probably a seedling during the American Revolution.
During that first encounter with the DEP and the Champion Tree List, it was found that West Windsor was already on the list with the Champion Green Ash. That tree was located in the Port Mercer area where Quaker Road crosses the D&R Canal. It also had a girth of more than 17 feet.
A year or two after learning of our second champion tree, we found that it had fallen down, partly as a result of its precarious location at the edge of the stream. Its position was not very stable, and it could no longer stand on its own. Soon after that we also learned that the champion green ash had also fallen down. So as far as we know, West Windsor is now without a champion tree. But looking for new candidates should be fun for people who like to take walks in the woods. Just be careful in claiming a candidate, since identifying the exact species can be difficult.
Despite the large amount of residential and commercial development that has gone on in West Windsor during the past several decades, there is still a substantial amount of open space, and much of that is wooded. Some of it has been wooded for centuries. Other areas were once farmed, but have been naturally reforested. A good place to look for big trees is Mercer County Park in West Windsor. If there are any “champion trees” there they are yet to be found.
Serious interest in preserving open space in West Windsor started over a couple of decades ago when the state began proposing that large portions of New Jersey open space be preserved with public funds. The program, under Governor Christine Whitman, received much public support, and many local communities, including West Windsor, chose to supplement the state’s open space tax with one of its own. We’re all familiar with that now.
But when you’re out for a walk in the woods, look out for the really big trees They might be State Champions.
