Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 SAUGUS GARDENS IN THE PANDEMIC Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener t’s hard to look at the date without remembering one of the biggest storms of local memory. Feb. 5-7, 2021, is the 42nd anniversary of the Blizzard of ’78, which struck eastern New England with terrific I winds and record snow. Cars on the highways were buried in drifts, making extra challenges for plows attempting to clear the roadways. While the depth of snow from this week’s snowfall doesn’t come close to approaching that historic storm, the ground is once Law Offices of Terrence W. Kennedy 512 Broadway, Everett • Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice Tel: (617) 387-9809 Cell: (617) 308-8178 twkennedylaw@gmail.com SIGNS OF THE STORM: White pine near Route 1. Note snow stuck to the northeast sides of trunks due to this week’s nor’easter. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) again white. It makes us take note of the taller landmarks in town that reach up well beyond the snowbanks. I don’t know of any definite measurements that would indicate which tree is the tallest in Saugus, but it’s a good bet that it would be an eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). In most of our woods, white pines extend above the canopies of their neighboring trees. The tallest white pines ever measured in New England reached over 200 feet tall, and this is the tallest tree species in eastern North America. Of course, the giant sequoias of the west grow to be much taller. The tallest tree in Massachusetts is a white pine currently measuring 171 feet tall, It is out in the Trees of Peace Grove of Mohawk Trail State Forest, which has a collection of extremely tall white pines. The largest one is named Jake Swamp for the late Mohawk Iroquois Chief Jake Tekaronianeken Swamp (October 18, 1940–October 14, 2010), who visited the grove in the early 21st century and was very active in outreach missions relating to Native American history and peace. He was founder of the Tree of Peace Society in 1984 and planted many “trees of peace” in his lifetime. Traditionally, white pine is the species that represents peace for the Iroquois Nation. In addition to its place as the tree of peace, eastern white pine has many important roles in U.S. history. Big white pines were historically cherished for ship masts, and early in the colonial era the largest specimens GROWING IN THE ROCK: White pines tower over other trees on the shore of Birch Pond in Lynnhurst – and two new ones take root in the crevices of a rock. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) TRACES OF THE TREE: Eastern white pine cone and fallen needle clusters. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) A GROVE OF WHITE PINES: This band of trees near Route 1 in Saugus shows tall, straight, mast-like trunks. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) were marked with “the king’s broad arrow” to be used for the royal navy, and not allowed to be cut by local lumbermen for other purposes. After the revolution, the trees were used in local shipbuilding and for building houses. During the age of sail, most of the old growth pines were logged, so the largest pines we encounter now are only a few hundred years old. The first coin minted in colonial Massachusetts bore the image of a pine tree – the 1652 pine tree shilling. There is a story that Joseph Jenks, who rented a blacksmith shop on the site of the original ironworks in the 17th century, actually made the die for the pine tree shilling here in Saugus, but that story can’t be proven. Next time you are near the State House in Boston, look up at the top of the dome and you will see an architectural representation of a pine cone. Up until 1820, what is now the State of Maine was part of Massachusetts. Eastern white pine needles are 3-5" long and arranged in bundles of five. The number of GARDENS | SEE PAGE 19
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