The eastern cottonwood sprawled, even more hulking alone in a grassy basin, as I walked over a hill from the parking area.
I vividly remember encountering my first state champion tree in 2018. The eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides) at the Bryon Forest Preserve District’s Bald Hill Prairie Preserve had just been named the Illinois state champion tree.
It stayed with me enough that I’ve tracked down some other state champions, including the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), which was the state champ for years before the cottonwood bumped it down (the latest scoring is 493-486).
I found the cypress on a paddle through the Cache River State Natural Area in Pulaski County in 2022. So of course I went to Christopher David Benda’s morning session on “Updating the Illinois Big Tree Register” at the biannual Wild Things conference March 1 at Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
The sold-out conference, which has grown to be as sprawling as that cottonwood, was overwhelming with somewhere around 2,400 people and a load of information from more than 100 session options spread over seven time frames. I’ll do more off the sessions in the future, including on AI and conservation.
Benda, a southern Illinois botanist and something of a rock star in Illinois’ natural world, coordinates the Plants of Concern Southern Illinois Program for the Chicago Botanic Garden, conducts rare plant surveys for the Shawnee National Forest and teaches “The Flora of Southern Illinois” at Southern Illinois University. Not to mention he’s a good photographer and a social media presence (Illinois Botanizer). He has an extensive collection of plant photos and listings on his website, illinoisbotanizer.com.
In recent years, with the help of a grant from Illinois Forestry Development Council, he has been tidying up the IBTR, including trying to tighten up where the trees are. To nominate a tree, you need coordinates. Trees may be on public or private land.
He could not find some of the champion trees and others had died, so the IBTR has changed some in recent years. But Benda also found and added new champions.
The IBTR, which was started in 1962, only recognizes 184 native tree species found in Illinois. That means such common trees as Osage orange, a non-native, are not included. Nor is American holly considered a native. Originally buttonbush was not included because it was considered a shrub. Double-trunked trees are no longer counted.
IBTR uses the point system devised by American Forests. The score is based on tree circumference (in inches at 4.5 feet high), height in feet and a quarter of the average crown spread in feet. Benda does his measurements with a range finder for height and a measuring tape.
Technically, to maintain their rankings, trees were to be remeasured every 10 years. That lapsed some over the years. Benda is trying to correct that, including doing some of the measuring himself. There are also co-champion trees because leeway, within three percent of the existing champion, is allowed to give leniency because of the variance in measuring.
The Illinois champion cottonwood was nominated by Todd Tucker, executive director of the Byron Forest Preserve District since 2008. It is well-deserved honor. I think it is worth the drive, especially if you combine it with another stop at one of the public areas along the Rock River.
Speaking of rivers, one of my favorite days in recent years was paddling the Cache River in far southern Illinois and paddling right up to the champion bald cypress. It had me scratching my head because some cypresses I paddled by struck me as more impressive.
There is also a national register. Illinois has two national champs, both in DuPage County: Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) inside the circle drive at the Hyatt Lodge in the old McDonald’s campus and a Kansas hawthorn (Crataegus coccinioides) at Morton Arboretum.
On Wednesday, I went to find the Ohio buckeye and was justly rewarded with a massive sprawling tree that looked as battered as a heavyweight boxer at the end of 12 rounds. Just magnificent inside a decidedly urban circle of blacktop. Now, I’m inspired to find more champions.
There’s a red elm in a Palos cemetery I want to see for starters. And I may adapt one of Benda’s moves, which is to give the champion trees hugs. Though considering the size of some of them (it would take about eight of me to hug the cottonwood champ), I think of the hug as more of a pat on the back.
To learn more about IBTR, go to https://extension.illinois.edu/forestry, especially check out the interactive map of IBTR champions.
