Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)

Two sweetbay magnolias (Magnolia virginiana) were recently removed from the arboretum catalogue. During Hurricane Laura, a falling oak limb landed on top of the two trees, not killing them, but significantly mangling them. One was bent to a near 90⁰ angle; the other lost most of its crown. For the time being, the stumps remain for your inspection.

The two white surfaces pictured above are sweetbay magnolia stumps. Before the storm, both trees appeared perfectly healthy. They were both approximately 35 years old. One tree was collected and planted in 1985, and the other was purchased from a nursery and planted in 1988. Exact ages are unknown, but they were nearly the same age. The two sawed-off stumps are interestingly dissimilar.

One of the two stumps is noticeably larger than the other. This is the larger one. It's nearly two feet across and perfectly smooth.

The tree rings are easy to see.

The other stump is smaller and marred.

The stump is a foot wide, and the damaged center is approximately three inches in length.

 

Hurricane Laura Damage: Upper Pond

In late August, during the Hurricane Laura weather event, the arboretum suffered a minor catastrophe in the upper pond. A large limb broke from the crown of a mature water oak (Quercus nigra), crushing beneath it several medium-sized trees. Such a mess resulted that it's difficult to discern from photographs what exactly took place.

All of the damage can be traced back to this mature water oak (Quercus nigra). At the top, the trunk divides into four large branches. One of these branches snapped off during the storm.

The branch fell towards the pond, landing on several medium-sized trees. It remained suspended on a bent sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).

The weight of the oak branch bends the sweet bay magnolia over the gravel path.

One sweetbay magnolia is bent over the path, while a nearby sweetbay completely lost its crown.

After more than two weeks of clean-up, things are back to normal in the arboretum. Hurricane Laura changed the look of the upper pond. The old water oak lost a very big, mature limb, and two sweetbay magnolias had to be completely removed due to the excessive damaged they suffered. As a result, more light will now hit the vegetation growing in and around the wet area. 

Younger, smaller trees have been lying in wait for such a moment. Hundreds of redbay seedlings would love the opportunity to fill the gap left by the two sweetbays. A spindly big-leaf magnolia struggled for years in the shade, and a laurel-cherry, who happily grows in the shade, now has the extra sunlight to grow tall. Over the past decade, powdery thalia has all but disappeared in the upper pond due to the advancing shade created by maturing trees. Perhaps it will return. For now, the plan is to prevent each and every little redbay from growing in the upper pond, while at the same time encouraging the big-leaf magnolia, laurel-cherry, and thalia.

Upper Pond, September 2020

Upper Pond, September 2020

East side of Upper Pond, September 2020