400 years! I had heard that number before. Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) | Oregon Wood Innovation Center | Oregon State University
Thanks Eric Do you know if that age is from tree ring data? I've been measuring circumferences of very large Arbutus on Salt Spring Island, and noted that there are often large old Doug Firs, or Doug fir stumps in the same area, and wondered if they were age equivalent, so from your comment they might be. The largest Arbutus I've measured so far is 4.6 m CBH, (circumference at breast height) or roughly 1.5m DBH
The text says "...may be as much as 400 years old; ages of 200 to 250 years have been counted." So I would guess the 200-250 would be verified somehow, the 400 years must be a guess.
You'll have at least a couple larger ones to measure on Salt Spring Island, assuming you can get permission to go on private land! Check out arbutus in the BC Big Trees Registry: BC BigTree Registry Menus I see from SSI that there is at least one tree that exceeded 2m in diameter. Notably, the last measurements on two of the largest trees was in 2000, so it is definitely time for these to be revisited / remeasured after verifying that they are still alive.
