Forest Type
SAF 102: Baldcypress-water tupelo, 14 acres
SAF 92: Sweetgum-Nuttall oak-willow oak, 4 acres
Description
The Guilliard Lake stand is a remnant of old
growth timber located in a narrow strip of bottomland
along the Santee river. It is a good example
of the alluvial river swamp type and includes
a small amount of second bottom type on the
natural levee. Some very large veteran trees
are present, whose age would be numbered in
centuries. the area contains large cypress knees,
a few as much as nine feet tall and three feet
in diameter at the base. The stand is subject
to flooding in the winter and early spring,
but it dries out and is easily negotiable at
other times.
Eighty percent of the area is alluvial river
swamp type dominated by baldcypress and water
tupelo (SAF 102). The rest of the area, second
bottom on the natural levee, is characterized
by sweetgum and the related species of SAF 92.
Prominent species include sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica),
willow, water and overcup oaks, (Quercus phellos,
Q. nigra, Q. lyrata), water hickory (Carya aquatica),
sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and willow
(Salix caroliniana). the replacement of Nuttall
oak (Q. nuttallii) by water oak is common in
the southernmost rand of this type.The baldcypress
and water tupelo stand is dominated by old and
large trees with a great deal of defect. Many
cypress are completely hollow. They have no
better than average form, while form of the
tupelo is distinctly poorer than normal. The
stand is at a point in succession where the
old timber is breaking down and will be replaced
by other species because of the drier drainage
condition now existing due to the Santee-Cooper
Project upstream. By 1960, green ash had become
established in profusion.
Although cypress and tupelo are the sole dominants
in the swamp area, a wide variety of smaller
tree species can be found including red maple,
swamp cottonwood, (Populus heterophylla), water
locust (Gleditsia aquatic), planer tree (Planera
aquatica), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica),
and Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana).
Location
Berkeley County, South Carolina, within the
Francis Marion National Forest.
Access
From Jamestown, South Carolina, southwest
5 miles on South Carolina Route 45. Left on
Forest Service Route 150 and 150C, 3 miles.
For information contact
Witherbee District Ranger
U.S. Forest Service
Moncks Corner, South Carolina 29461
or
Director, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station
Ashville, North Carolina 28802 |
