| JANUARY NEWSLETTER We exceeded our fundraising goal! We received almost $50,000 in grants and donations to help fund our decision-making tool for Texas karst country landowners. We are thrilled, thankful, and encouraged. We want to give special thanks to the Alice C. Tyler Perpetual Trust and Jenny Clark. Our newsletters are now online After several requests from our supporters, we set up a page to house our past newsletters HERE . Aging Mountain Cedars There's a general perception that mountain cedars are not a long-lived species. However, like all junipers, they are a long-lived species. Although mountain cedars can quickly spread across a rangeland, their growth once established is very slow. You can quickly assess mountain cedar ages with the following 3 techniques (these methods apply only to junipers growing on Texas karst country, specifically Juniperus ashei , J. ovata , and their hybrids): 1) Mountain cedars don't start producing fruit or pollen until they sexually mature. That happens once they are 10 to 20 years old. If they're not producing, they're younger than 10 to 15 years old. 2) White patches of lichen, called Robergea albicedrae, provide another clue . This lichen grows on many mountain cedars. If the lichen is found on the trunk, branches, and twigs, then the mountain cedar will be less than 30 years old. If the lichen has disappeared from the trunk, then the trees will be at least 30 to 50 years old. The lichen appears to sustain itself off the excess sap that oozes through the bark of younger mountain cedars. Once the heartwood matures, the sticky sap decreases and the bark can begin to shed. So, if your mountain cedars have shredding bark, they will be at least 50 to 60 years old. WHITE BARK LICHEN, Robergea albicedrae 3) Trunk width can also be used to estimate age. Measure the trunk's circumference in inches 4.5 feet up from the ground (this works best for tree-like mountain cedars). Divide the circumference by 3.14 to get the diameter. Then divide the diameter by .1 and .06 Using .1 and .06 produces a range of ages. If your tree is growing near water in bottomland soils, it will be closer to the .1 number. If your tree is growing on a drier hillside, .06 will be more accurate. For example, if your tree has a 12" wide trunk at 4.5' up, then it will be about 120 years old if it's growing near water, but at least 200 years old if growing on top of a hill. STATE CHAMPION MOUNTAIN CEDAR IS 440-733 YEARS OLD VISIT OUR WEBSITE |
We exceeded our fundraising goal!
We received almost $50,000 in grants and donations to help fund our decision-making tool for Texas karst country landowners. We are thrilled, thankful, and encouraged. We want to give special thanks to the Alice C. Tyler Perpetual Trust and Jenny Clark.
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Our newsletters are now online
After several requests from our supporters, we set up a page to house our past newsletters HERE.
| |
Aging Mountain Cedars
There's a general perception that mountain cedars are not a long-lived species. However, like all junipers, they are a long-lived species. Although mountain cedars can quickly spread across a rangeland, their growth once established is very slow.
You can quickly assess mountain cedar ages with the following 3 techniques (these methods apply only to junipers growing on Texas karst country, specifically Juniperus ashei, J. ovata, and their hybrids):
1) Mountain cedars don't start producing fruit or pollen until they sexually mature. That happens once they are 10 to 20 years old. If they're not producing, they're younger than 10 to 15 years old.
2) White patches of lichen, called Robergea albicedrae, provide another clue. This lichen grows on many mountain cedars. If the lichen is found on the trunk, branches, and twigs, then the mountain cedar will be less than 30 years old. If the lichen has disappeared from the trunk, then the trees will be at least 30 to 50 years old. The lichen appears to sustain itself off the excess sap that oozes through the bark of younger mountain cedars. Once the heartwood matures, the sticky sap decreases and the bark can begin to shed. So, if your mountain cedars have shredding bark, they will be at least 50 to 60 years old.
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WHITE BARK LICHEN, Robergea albicedrae | | |
3) Trunk width can also be used to estimate age. Measure the trunk's circumference in inches 4.5 feet up from the ground (this works best for tree-like mountain cedars). Divide the circumference by 3.14 to get the diameter.
Then divide the diameter by .1 and .06
Using .1 and .06 produces a range of ages. If your tree is growing near water in bottomland soils, it will be closer to the .1 number. If your tree is growing on a drier hillside, .06 will be more accurate. For example, if your tree has a 12" wide trunk at 4.5' up, then it will be about 120 years old if it's growing near water, but at least 200 years old if growing on top of a hill.
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STATE CHAMPION MOUNTAIN CEDAR IS 440-733 YEARS OLD | | |
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