Veteran tree falls - poppy placed on it as sign of remembrance

The eastern hemlock tree had withstood many storms over two centuries
guarding the woods near Exeter, Ontario. Years before Irish immigrants
first settled in the area, the tree was there. It kept its post for
more than 200 years until a recent storm finally ended its long
history.
 
A passing hiker at Morrison Dam Conservation Area near Exeter seems to
have paid a tribute to this veteran of the forest by pinning a poppy
to the remains of the tree.
 
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Forestry and Land Stewardship
Specialist Ian Jean discovered the poppy and the tree while walking
the South Huron Trail on a recent weekend stroll. Here is how the ABCA
employee described coming across the poppy, which may have been one
person’s silent tribute to this ‘veteran’ of the forest:
 
“Last evening I decided to take a walk on our Morrison Trail –
something I should do more often – and stopped to admire an old
hemlock that had recently fallen victim to a strong wind,” he recalled
in an e-mail to co-workers. “Tony and Wayne (ABCA field staff) had to
cut through the tree to clear the trail so, on the fresh-cut wood, I
decided to count the rings. The tree had broken off about 15 feet off
of the ground and I counted the 158 tree rings on the upper log, which
would have been at least 30 feet tall.”
 
Jean explains how he arrived at his estimate that the tree is at least
200 years old.
 
“Hemlock grows very slowly and most of the rings were about one
millimetre wide. To reach 30 feet of height can take anywhere from 30
to 100 years for a hemlock – so if we add, conservatively, 40 years to
that tree I think that we can safely say it was 200 years old.”
 
It is not unusual for an eastern hemlock to reach 200 years of age. In
fact, the shade-resistant species can take 300 years to mature, can
reproduce for 450 years and the oldest recorded hemlock is reported to
have reached almost 1,000 years of age.
 
“Fittingly, someone has pinned a poppy on the bark of this fallen
veteran of the forest,” Jean said. “Perhaps they had stopped and
counted the rings as well.”
 
The poppy remains a powerful and enduring symbol of remembrance of the
ultimate sacrifices made by our soldiers in the protection of our
values, sovereignty and freedom. Perhaps the hiker who left the poppy
on this tree felt it was also an appropriate symbol to remember a
veteran of another kind.
 
“Maybe the hiker noticed this ancient tree and made a special trip
back to place the poppy on it to remember it,” Jean said.

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