Large old trees often fool us. We think they are in decline when they are doing fine. We have false images of what a healthy tree looks like. I want to focus today on this amazing bur oak. #VenerableTrees #Trees

I estimate this tree to be 300+ based on ring counts of nearby trees. It is entirely hollow. The tree was struck by lightning 87 years ago (from ring count of callus). The top is gone and the tree is entirely hollow - small children climb up the inside. #VenerableTrees #Trees

Despite the crown loss and the loss of the cambium on the side facing us, the trees is growing exceedingly well. Even in dry years, it appears to have adequate transpiration capacity. The tree has built a new crown. #VenerableTrees #Trees

By midsummer, the trees has a full crown, with no signs of dieback. It is, as I will show later, one of the fastest growing bur oaks among the trees I follow. I have known this tree well for 38 years and it looks like this every summer. #Venearabletrees #Trees

For long-lived tree species, we need to let the tree tell us how it is doing. Trees like this do not fit our usual stereotypes of healthy trees. This is a healthy, rapidly growing tree, and many more generations of people will play beneath it. #Venerabletrees #Trees