Huge Hemlocks

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Huge Hemlocks

Huge Hemlocks

Some of the trees in Linville Gorge are enormous. This tree, near the Sandy Flats/Linville Gorge trail junction is typical of what you'll see. June 2006
dwhike
on Jul 3, 2006 7:17 pm
Image Type(s): Hiking
Image ID: 204615

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BobSmith

BobSmith - Oct 4, 2009 10:10 am - Voted 10/10

All

All of the hemlocks in Linville Gorge are dead, now. Every one of them, with the exception of a few small Carolina hemlock saplings that have come up in the last few years.

dwhike

dwhike - Oct 5, 2009 12:47 am - Hasn't voted

Re: All

Oh my god! I can only assume it was the Wooly Adelgid that was responsible. Hard to believe such a forest could be decimated in just a few years!

BobSmith

BobSmith - Oct 5, 2009 11:32 am - Voted 10/10

Re: All

Yep. The adelgid got them all. You can find a few hemlocks standing that still have a handful of needles on them, but both species of hemlock are effectively extinct in Linville now. As they are all up and down the main spine of the Appalachians from Virginia southward into extreme northeast Georgia. The bug hasn't crossed over the ridges to the west yet--there are still healthy stands on the Cumberland plateau and in other areas west and south of the Smokies. But it's only a matter of time, now.

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