By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published June 30, 2010
The Moapa Valley community is home to several of the largest trees of their species anywhere in the state of Nevada. Last month the Nevada Division of Forestry released the results of its 2010 Nevada Big Tree Program. On the Nevada Big Tree Registry, and located in the Moapa Valley community, were five champion trees, each representing the largest tree of its species, and two co-champion trees which tied for the designation.
The five local championship trees included a Chastetree, a Red Mulberry, a Pomegranate tree and a Mexican Paloverde located at residences in Logandale; and a Chinese Pistache tree located on a property south of Overton. The two co-champion trees included a Fruitless Mulberry and a Western Honey Mesquite both located at Logandale residences.
For eighteen years, the Nevada Division of Forestry State Big Tree Program has been searching for the largest specimen of every tree species growing in Nevada. The first register, completed in 1992, listed 70 trees. The current register has grown to 264 tree species. Nominations of trees to be considered may be made at any time but the register is updated every two years.
When a tree is nominated, a Division of Forestry representative is sent out to the location to take measurements of the tree. Big Tree candidates are compared on a point basis.
Measuring guidelines assign one point for each inch of circumference, one point for each foot of height, and ¼ point for each foot of crown spread (measured as the average of the largest spread in feet and the spread in feet measured perpendicularly). Trees within 10 points of each other are considered co-champions.
Since growing large trees in the desert climate of Southern Nevada is a long process, many of these champion local trees are also historic landmarks, having witnessed decades of change in the Moapa Valley. Some of the trees’ owners can tell the history of the old trees in detail because that story so closely intertwines with their own lives and that of their families. Others have purchased their home more recently and know less about the history of the beautiful trees in their yards.
The tree named as the largest Chastetree in the state is owned by local historian Beezy Tobiasson and her husband Glade who live on the Moapa Valley Boulevard in Logandale. The tree, is located in the Tobiassons’ front yard and is easy to notice at certain times of the year because it is filled with beautiful purple blossoms.
The scientific name for the tree is Vitex agnus-castus. But Beezy recalled that the family had always just called it a butterfly bush.
Beezy has an extensively documented history on the old tree. She said that the tree is at least 72 years old, just a couple of years younger than the family house which stands on the same lot.
The house was built by Glade’s grandparents, Robert and Dina Chadburn in 1936. A couple of years after the home was completed, and the family had settled into it, the Chadburns began to make improvements on their yard, Beezy said.
“The tree was given to them as a house-warming gift by Alta Cooper Whipple (who was Jay Whipple’s mother),” Beezy said. “Back then it was just a little bush given to them in a five gallon can. They planted it right out there and now look at it!”
The tree has lived through many generations of family dwelling in the house. Glade and Beezy purchased the house from Glade’s mother in 1972 and raised their family there. Now they have grandchildren and great-grandchildren that come to visit the old family home. “That old tree has had to withstand a lot of kids climbing up in its branches over the years,” Beezy said.
The tree has an 84 inch circumference and was measured at 35 feet high. It’s crown measurement was 50 feet.
The Tobiassons were also connected to another of the championship trees. The state’s largest Pomegranate tree is located on Liston Street in Logandale. It belongs to Verna Heller who is Glade’s mother. Beezy said that she and Glade planted the pomegranate tree back in 1972 from a small tree she purchased for $1.25 in a one gallon can.
The pomegranate tree currently measures 76 inches in circumference and is about 18 feet tall. Its average crown measurement came in at about 20 feet.
Heller is also the owner of a co-champion Fruitless Mulberry tree which stands on the same property. This tree measures 145 inches in circumference and 56 feet high with an average crown of 70 feet. The tree was recognized as co-champion with a similarly sized tree in Reno.
The champion Chinese Pistache tree located south of Overton has a less cultivated history, even if it is just as extensive. The property where the tree is located had been owned by Emerson Leavitt since the early 1950s. According to family member Joyce Leavitt, the old tree which grows in an out-of-the-way spot along the fence line bordering the railroad right-of-way, has been there as long as anyone can remember.
“I doubt if anyone planted it way out there,” said Joyce Leavitt. “Probably the birds just ate seeds from somewhere else and dropped them out there where they sprouted. I don’t think anyone has done anything to care for it, especially. It gets water from flood irrigation and it just has been growing there. Every once in a while, (workers from the) railroad come along and trim off some branches to keep it under control. Other than that it just grows on its own.”
The tree, bearing the scientific name of Pistacia Chinensis, measures 184 inches at its circumference. It is 40 feet high and has an average crown measuring 62 feet.
Less historical information was available about some of the other trees that made the register.
The largest Red Mulberry tree in the state is located in Logandale, on a residential property along the west side of Moapa Valley Blvd south of the Gubler Bridge. The tree, originally planted by early Moapa Valley resident Charles Walsh, now has a 74 inch circumference and is 22 feet high with a 41 foot average crown.
On the same property is another co-champion tree: a Western Honey Mesquite. This tree has a circumference of 88 inches and a height of 36 feet. Its average crown measures 48 feet. This tree’s co-champion counterpart is located in the Stewart Valley of Nye County.
The largest Mexican Paloverde tree in the state is located on a residential property near the intersection of Gubler Ave and Leavitt St in Logandale. It measures 105 inches in circumference, 35 feet high and has an average crown of 43 feet.
