To most passers-by, the towering magnolia in western Howard County may look like a regular tree, albeit with massive leaves. But to local tree enthusiasts, it?s a champion.
“It is pretty spectacular,” said Joe Gochar, a Catonsville resident and tree admirer.
A particularly large bigleaf magnolia has been discovered in West Friendship, and its size has many convinced it could be crowned a National Champion Tree by the nonprofit American Forests, which has been documenting big trees since 1940.
The Big Tree registry is published every two years, and the deadline is Nov. 1, said John Bennett, manager of the volunteer Maryland Big Tree Program.
The magnolia measured 55 feet tall and 12 feet, 1 inch around. It has been certified as a Maryland State Champion Tree, according to the state Department of Natural Resources, and is a contender for the national title.
Gochar firstspotted the species, which is smaller than its sister Southern magnolia, while hiking near Patapsco State Park.
“When 30-inch leaves start dropping in the fall, you start to take notice,” he said.
He began researching the unique tree and found it wasn?t known to grow in Maryland. Most of the trees are found far to the South, he said, but he has found pockets growing along the Patuxent River valley up to Sykesville.
Now he wants to determine whether it is native to Maryland or a tree transplant.
Big trees are rated on a point system based on its measurements.
The current bigleaf magnolia champ, which has 170 points, is on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., according to the registry.
Howard?s bigleaf magnolia, which was likely planted when the estate was built in the late 1800s, earned 213 points, Bennett said, adding champions usually trump their predecessors by less than a dozen points.
Being crowned a national champion doesn?t necessarily protect the trees from being cut down, and it won?t even win a plaque.
But it does come with bragging rights, Bennett said.
