Natural Land Institute (NLI) is pleased to announce the July Tree of the Month is located at Whiteside County Fairgrounds, which contains a natural landmark: an ancient White Oak (Quercus alba) that has graced the land for more than three centuries. The tree is 90 feet tall; it has an average crown spread of 103 feet and a trunk circumference of almost 170 inches.
White Oak is the official State Tree of Illinois and a keystone species providing life for an amazing diversity of creatures. This tree’s age is not a guess. With some extrapolation, the tree was determined to be 308 year old! It took root in 1716.
For Morrison’s Sesquicentennial celebration, now-retired, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Biologist Randy Nyboer had taken a core sample of the tree, on January 23, 2005. The core is a thin circular cut into the tree by a special tool called an increment borer. The core sample does not hurt the tree. It documents the rings in the wood; each ring corresponds to a year’s growth.
“The 153rd Whiteside County Fair opens Tuesday, August 13, and continues until Saturday, August 17, 2024. We recommend you stop by and pay homage to this Legacy Tree while you enjoy this County Fair,” said Alan Branhagen, NLI Executive Director. “If only this oak could speak of all the seasons it has witnessed, I’m sure it would have some stories to tell! We hope to collect acorns from this magnificent tree and offer them to our membership at a later date. We guarantee the tree will have good genes and pass along a legacy of one of the finest trees in our Region.”
This tree was growing in the shadow of Rock Creek for almost a century before Illinois became a State and well before the United States gained independence. The local region was mainly prairie, but the creek provided a bit of a fire break that allowed some trees to survive in its shadow. Prairie fires regularly raged across Illinois, suppressing woody plants including trees. Luckily, as Morrison was settled and the Whiteside County Fairgrounds created, this tree was spared. This month it is celebrated as a landmark on the site.
The mass of acorns of this species is a top food source for wildlife; its foliage hosts an amazing array of insects. Acorns start to germinate immediately in the fall but wait until spring to send up new growth. Squirrels know this. They often cut the emerging root from the acorn in the fall, to ensure it as a food source to be retrieved later.
About the Natural Land Institute: As an accredited land trust, NLI is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit land conservation organization based in Rockford, IL, and has protected 18,000 acres of natural land in Illinois since 1958. NLI’s mission is to create an enduring legacy of natural land in Northern Illinois for people, plants, and animals. For more information and to donate: www.NaturalLand.org or call 815-964-6666.