In Lone Hill United Methodist Cemetery near West Green, you can find an Eastern red cedar as big as a Live oak. [Maybe a younger Live oak, but you get the point]. Its age is unknown, but since red cedars are notoriously slow growers, it’s likely it was already of respectable size when some of the early congregants of Lone Hill buried their loved ones in its shade. As it has grown, it has begun to gently displace some of those graves.
American Forests, the non-profit organization that certifies big trees, has declared this Eastern red cedar*, [Juniperus virginiana] the National Champion. This means it’s the largest known example of the species. Recorded dimensions are: Height-57′. Crown spread-75′. Circumference-234″.
*- Also written as redcedar or red-cedar.
Update: Mike Deaton writes that on 26-27 September 2024, this tree was badly damaged by Hurricane Helene.
Most people are familiar with pine cones. But those are the woody, female cones. Not everyone would recognize this herbaceous bloom as the male cone, but it’s a beautiful thing in its own right. The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) was once the dominant tree of the South, covering 92 million acres throughout the region. Today, it survives on just 3 million scattered acres. Responsible landowners have begun to plant them in an effort to restore habitat and state agencies throughout the South manage them on public lands. For a beautiful illustrated work on the subject, check out Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See, from the University of North Carolina Press. For a volume that speaks lyrically of the ecology of our wonderful South Georgia forests and the human culture they’ve always supported, read my friend Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood.
Many consider moss-draped oaks romantic symbols of Coastal Georgia. This particularly nice one is located on the grounds of the Seabrook Village living history museum in Liberty County.
Spanish-moss-draped Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana) are emblematic of the Southern coastal region and a great place to see them is Gascoigne Bluff, adjacent to Epworth By The Sea. There’s a public park here with ample free parking. The oak grove is quite impressive, but perhaps not nearly as impressive as what a visitor would have seen 200 years or more in the past. The timber used in the construction of the famed USS Constitution, better known as Old Ironsides, was cut at this bluff.
Much of the land surrounding the upper reaches of the Alapaha River is characterized by sandy soils, dunes and scrub oaks. They’re most often encountered by hunters and fishermen but they’re a magnificent ecosystem, worthy of exploring when you can get access. Several endangered species call these scrublands home.
The Alapaha originates in southern Dooly County and flows southerly through or along the borders of Crisp, Wilcox, Turner, Ben Hill, Irwin, Tift, Berrien, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes, and Echols in Georgia and Hamilton County in Florida. The Willacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers are its two main tributaries. It flows into the Suwanee River 10 miles south of Jasper, Florida.
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is ubiquitous.
The remains of a weather-damaged oak lie beside the banks of a man-made canal near the river.
The Alapaha isn’t widely known beyond the counties it embraces except by a few kayakers and canoeists, yet it courses 202 miles from its headwaters to its confluence with the Suwanee. Its levels are increasingly strained by modern agricultural practices in a region considered to harbor some of the most productive farmland in the state.
It’s important place to me as it’s where I first went fishing in a boat with my father as a very young boy, besides the pond at my grandfather’s farm. I may be foolish to think so, but I believe people who live near the river will always have a strong desire to protect it.
Located at the corner of Prince and Albany Streets, this tree is said to be over 900 years old, though that may be a bit exaggerated. It derives its name from the legend that Native Americans met here in courtship. It was recognized in 1987 by the National Arborists Association as having been alive at the time of the signing of the United States Constitution.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The effects of wind and sand over time stunt the growth of the trees along the shoreline and create magical patterns. This one near the middle of the island was shot at night.
If you grew up around an old farm, there was likely a pear tree somewhere in the yard. Their striking white blossoms were often seen as a first sign of springtime. The fruit wasn’t really pear-shaped, but rounder, like an apple. The escaped and leftover pears still found along roadsides and on abandoned homesteads in the South are most likely Asian pears (Pyrus pyrifolia). These once-ubiquitous orbs are referred to as hog pears by many old-timers in South Georgia because the hard fruit takes so long to ripen that the only creatures said to eat them are hogs. Many still use the term today.[Some sources note that hog pear is the term for an invasive variety known as the Callery pear, but where I grew up, we called all the roundish pears hog pears.] My great-grandmother made wonderful fried pear tarts when they ripened, usually in late summer or early autumn. Sand pear, which refers to the noticeably gritty texture of the fruit, is more commonly used in Florida. It can get rather confusing, really.
Grand Bay is located within a 13,000-acre wetlands system which is said to be the second largest natural blackwater wetland in the state, after the Okefenokee Swamp. It is of the type of land features known as “Carolina bays” which, according to one theory were created by meteor showers. Dudley’s Hammock, a rare example of a mature broadleaf-evergreen hammock community, is found in the area. Strolling leisurely along the boardwalk which provides easy access to the wetland, one of the most beautiful plants likely to be encountered in late spring and summer is the Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), pictured below.
At the end of the half-mile boardwalk is the 54-foot Kinderlou Tower, which served as a fire lookout in nearby Kinderlou Forest from 1939-1993. It was donated to the state by Harley Langdale, Jr., a prominent Valdosta businessman.
Be advised in summer that the walk up the tower can be exhausting and that numerous red wasps nest on the structure. The view from the top, though, is worth the effort.
To reach Grand Bay WMA from Valdosta take U. S. Highway 221 North approximately 10 miles and turn left on Knight’s Academy Road. Go 1.5 miles to the entrance sign on the right. The entrance road leads 1 mile north to a “T”. The boardwalk is to your left, the interpretive center and canoe trail entrance to your right. A Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass, or GORP, is now required for access; for more information, call the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division at 229-426-5267.
An aside: My good friend Jan Stokes, who had a long career with DNR at Bowens Mill, pointed out to me in an email just how difficult a task it was to build the boardwalk in 100-degree and freezing weather over several years, battling snakes and alligators at every turn. Their dedication to the project mirrored the enthusiasm of Tip Hon, who was the guiding force behind the state’s vision for Grand Bay WMA.
