The National Champion Tree photographed by Robert Llewellyn in 2008

The Fincastle United Methodist Church Honeylocust is the official largest of it species. It is listed  on the American Forests  Big Tree Registry Virginia Tech announced on Friday.

Last August 9, 2010 Virginia Department of Forestry Forester Bob Boeren and The Botetourt View’s Cathy Benson re-measured the tree which had been listed second on the national registry, but was the largest Honeylocust in the State of Virginia. (We had a story and slide  gallery.) Benson is a member of the church and has been a proponent of the tree for well over a decade.

Here’s what Boeren’s  tree measurements:

Height: 121 feet (a ten story building)

Crown: 122 east to west, 107 feet north to south crown average 114 with a composite number of 29 (average divided by 4.)

Circumference 234 inches at 4 and half feet or in forestry vernacular “DBH” or  (commonly breast height.)

Boeren feels the tree is approximately 206 years old by its size and the fact the first wooden log church structure was built on the site in 1804 for the congregation that began in 1796.

“It is an amazing tree and in really good shape for it’s age.” he said. The tree grew 11 feet taller over the past seven years and is now significantly taller than the church steeple in comparison to the past measurement.

Here are the Fincastle United Methodist Honeylocust statistics provided by Boeren.

Height: 121 feet (a ten story building)

Crown: 122 east to west, 107 feet north to south crown average 114 with a composite number of 29 (average divided by 4.)

Circumference 234 inches at 4 and half feet or in forestry vernacular “DBH” or  (commonly breast height.)

Boeren feels the tree is approximately 206 years old by its size and the fact the first wooden log church structure was built on the site in 1804 for the congregation that began in 1796.

Boeren scored the tree at 384 after taking the measurements.  At the time they knew the tree measured larger than the  grand champ of that date.  He sent the  nomination to Virginia Tech. The  nomination had to wait almost a year before the big tree’s were re-listed . The old champion was a tree in Frederick, Maryland. Virginia placed fourth in the number of Big Trees on the registry this year placing 76 species on the National Big Tree Registry.

A group of Botetourt’s  gifted students visited the tree with Kirwan in 2009. In 2006, the National Tree Trust group visited the tree to get material for cloning. The group’s interests regarded how some trees live to be large specimens in a dangerous world both environmentally and in the natural world.

For more on the project, see the  National Tree Trust on cloning.

Said Virginia Tech emeritus professor Jeffrey Kirwan, who co-authored “Remarkable Trees of Virginia,” with Nancy Hugo Ross and  photographer Robert Llewellyn, ” People were keeping up with this tree. When Bob Boeren sent in the measurements it seemed only fitting that it would have it’s growth updated. It may be that ours is just more recently measured, and therefore ahead in points according to the records kept by American Forests.”

“This tree has deserved recognition for a long time.” Another Honeylocust in the Godwin Cemetery adjacent to the church property is the second largest in the state.  Kirwan is fond of both trees and both were included in “The Remarkable Trees of Virginia” book.

Here is  a portion of the  Virginia Tech press release:

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 4, 2011 – Virginia ranks fourth among the states for having the most big tree species with 76 national champion trees, according to American Forests’ recently released 2011 National Register of Big Trees.
Many of the state’s champions are showcased in “Remarkable Trees of Virginia,” authored by Virginia Tech forestry professor emeritus Jeff Kirwan and Nancy Ross Hugo of Richmond, with photos by Robert Llewellyn of Charlottesville.
Among Virginia’s champions are a honeylocust in Fincastle (one of 16 trees new to this year’s list), a water tupelo in Greensville (the largest of the state’s champion trees), a Stewartia in Chesapeake (the state’s smallest champ at 15 feet), a hornbeam in Berryville, and a round leaf birch in Smyth County. The national register lists the largest tree in the country from over 660 species.
“Two-thirds of champion trees are found in institutional settings — cemeteries, churches, universities — where they grow large without competition and crowding from other trees,” said Kirwan, who continues doing special projects for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Kirwan’s years researching trees in Virginia as part of the state’s Big Tree Programhttp://www.web2.cnre.vt.edu/4h/bigtree/ prompted him to write his book.

The National Champ the day it was measured for the current title in August 2010. Photograph of the canopy by Cathy Benson