Arkansas State Monument White Oak

The rings of the stump are extremely tight in the outermost 2 inches or so of radius, indicating that the tree has been dying, based on the ring count, since the late 1980s. Before that, the growth rate was variable, ranging from 5-8 years to grow each inch of diameter, at least as far back as 1900 – there are about 120 rings in this 9-inch segment of radius. The average diameter of the stump is 40-44 inches, but the diameter would have been smaller at 4½ feet above the ground, where the diameter is conventionally measured. This means that the growth rates suggested here would actually be slower higher up the trunk than the numbers mentioned here suggest.