5th NH Flank Marker Cut Tree

Take a close look at the number of rings that can be counted over the length of one inch of radius in any of the photos. Along much of the radius, you can count 16 rings per inch of diameter – which corresponds to 8 years to grow each inch of diameter.

What is even more astounding is how consistently the tree has been growing at this rate for 200 years. In fact, very close to the center, when the tree was much younger, the rings are even tighter, indicating even slower growth.

The diameter of the tree was about 25-26 inches: imagine a tree with a diameter of only a little over 2 feet being two centuries old.