INDIAN POINTER TREE ?

[mountainborn]

Some I have shown this photo to, seem to think that it is a Indian Pointer Tree. What the heck is that ? The tree seems to be old, How can I tell how old it is ?
Here is the photo:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/mountainborn0/DSC00341.jpg

[flannelman]

Wow!! Thats a cool tree!! The only way you can tell how old it is is to cut it down and count the rings. Well actually you could take a core sample and count the lines in the sample.

[Q]

Indian pointer trees were done like that to indicate position or direction.... road signs if you will. They would point a trail direction or mark forks in the trail/road to certain spots.

That bend in the tree seems rather high for such a tree. Possible tho. Many such trees are left by storms. As a tree falls and bends a smaller tree without breaking it, the smaller tree grows on and the branches become like a trunk, reaching up. I would be mo worried 'bout the dude in the mask!!!!

[topkitty98]

I think that the Wooly Hollow Cache put out by gaddiel & orange danish had a link to Indian trail trees. It may be in the logs from ages ago. I think they also pointed to resources such as water. In our wanderings in the woods, we've come across several. They are cool.

Beth
>^..^<

[Gaddiel]

I think that the Wooly Hollow Cache put out by gaddiel & orange danish had a link to Indian trail trees. It may be in the logs from ages ago.

That's true. I remembered the log you mentioned (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=0320e0cd-a62f-4599-8a0b-97d6884f0944}) and went back and looked it up. Here's the link that firechief1956 provided to a page about trail trees.

Wayne

[Spice]

I think that the Wooly Hollow Cache put out by gaddiel & orange danish had a link to Indian trail trees. It may be in the logs from ages ago.

That's true. I remembered the log you mentioned (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=0320e0cd-a62f-4599-8a0b-97d6884f0944}) and went back and looked it up. Here's the link (http://home.att.net/~trailtrees/) that firechief1956 provided to a page about trail trees.

Wayne

I tried the link and it did not work for me. Said "content blocked".

p1t

[Gaddiel]

I tried the link and it did not work for me. Said "content blocked".

Oops. You're right. I've removed that link since it no longer works. Try this one (http://www.trailtrees.frogprinceandprincess.com/trailtrees.html) instead...

Wayne

[mountainborn]

Me too. Content blocked. My browser settings maybe ?

[OldRiverRunner]

I tried the link and it did not work for me. Said "content blocked".

Oops. You're right. I've removed that link since it no longer works. Try this one (http://www.trailtrees.frogprinceandprincess.com/trailtrees.html) instead...

Wayne

This new one worked for me. Thanks! -- ORR

[mountainborn]

Got it, Thanks !

[flannelman]

I saw a tree like that yesterday evening while deer hunting. It had been pushed over by a dozer while building a fire break. Two limbs had started growing verticle like two separate trunks.

[OldRiverRunner]

I spotted one of these trees while I was out geocaching this morning, heading for the "deer camp" cache (GCYX7D) in northern Johnson County. The tree is about 1/2 mile after leaving the pavement if you're heading east on County Road 4490 coming from Rt. 103. The tree is within 30 feet of the road, on the south side, in a pasture. Look for it if you ever go after this cache. -- ORR

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-5/1259709/indiantree.jpg I ran across this tree on the way to a cache. I took the picture because I thought it was a cool representation of gravitropism. I'd never heard of an Indian pointer tree until I stumbled upon this thread. So what do you guys think? I think it may be and the only way to findout is to go back and see where it's pointing. Which is what I intend to do.

[Geezer_Veazey]

Judging from the size of the tree I believe this indian lived circa 1989. In other words, it's probably one of nature's accidents rather than an Indian Pointer tree. I would think any genuine Indian Pointer trees would be quite large by now.

Have a nice hike.

Geezer

[mountainborn]

Using the formula below, the tree in the photo that starts the thread, germinated aproximately in 1892. Post Civil War, Jesse James era.
Paste from another forum:
>
First, determine tree diameter in inches measured at 4 1/2 feet above ground level. Remember that diameter equals circumference divided by 3.14. The following table assigns a factor number to various species. Multiply the diameter in inches by the appropriate factor to determine the estimated tree age.

Determining Tree Age
( Factor x Diameter = Tree Age )

Tree Species Factor
Acer rubrum Red Maple 3.0
Acer saccharinum Silver Maple 2.0
Betula nigra River Birch 3.0
Carya ovata Shagbark Hickory 7.0
Fagus grandifolia American Beech 6.0
Fraxinus americana White Ash 4.0
Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green Ash 3.5
Juglans nigra Black Walnut 3.5
Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum 4.0
Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip Poplar 2.5
Pinus strobus White Pine 4.5
Platanus occidentalis Sycamore 3.5
Prunus serotina Black Cherry 4.0
Quercus alba White Oak 5.0
Quercus coccinea Scarlet Oak 4.0
Quercus palustris Pin Oak 3.5
Quercus rubra Northern Red Oak 3.5
Ulmus americana American Elm 3.0


Example

White oak is the overstory dominant species in a hypothetical stand, with a mean average diameter of 18" d.b.h.
white oak factor 5.0 x 18"d.b.h. = 90 yrs. old

The forest stand is estimated to be 90 years old. Everything growing beneath the overstory is performing in response to the dominance of the oaks, in that, the overstory often drives, directs and dictates forest community structure below it¹s canopy.