Sad Day in Swampville

Trees like "The Senator" don't grow overnight:

By my calculations replacing this one will take 3,000 years.

http://www.gohydrology.org/2012/01/sad-day-in-swampville.html

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Permalink Reply by Keith W on January 18, 2012 at 9:34pm

They are now saying that the fire was not caused by arson, but by a lightning strike that ignited the hollow core of the old tree and smoldered for a week before bursting into the flames that finally destroyed The Senator. This is indeed a sad day for lovers of old growth. The 2,000 year old Lady Liberty cypress wasn't harmed by the fire.

One Of World's Oldest Cypress Trees, 'The Senator,' Burns In Florida

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Permalink Reply by Robert Sobczak on January 18, 2012 at 10:10pm

lnteresting

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Permalink Reply by Michael Palozzola on January 20, 2012 at 1:02pm

It is a shame to lose a organism as ancient as the senator, but it being a lightning strike makes it seem better, a bit full circle. As everything has a beginning everything must have an end and the fact that this ancient tree got to live out its full existence until its natural end could come and claim it, is a truly rare sight. In today's day and age it would be a much more common sight to see a tree such as this fall under the blade of an ax or the pressure of a bulldozer, in order for the ground to be flattened for the newest parking lot. That would be a true shame, but this though it is a loss not easily or quickly fixed it in its core is the beauty of natural change. This burning will allow space for the Senators of the future to grow.

Obiturary for an Ancient :)

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Permalink Reply by Swamp Hunter on January 20, 2012 at 8:51pm

Being that it was hollow is possibly what saved it in the first place. The loggers had a man whos job was to climb up and tap on the trunks to see if they were solid before cutting them down. They werent interested in harvesting hollow trees. What may have saved it from loggers ended up killing it in the end..