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‘Largest’ Sassafras falls
The largest Sassafras tree in Virginia, located in Sperryville, fell from Hurricane Isabel’s winds Thursday. The 100-year-old tree, which is on Billy Wayland’s farm on Route 211, stood 57 feet tall and had a circumference of 12 feet, seven inches.
In a 1990 article in Virginia Forest magazine, writer Thomas T. Earles noted the tree’s vulnerability to winds and lightning, as it sat atop a hill. Its size, he said, was thus not due to location but instead took “a combination of luck and resilience to become a state champion.”
That luck ran out though, as the tree gave in to Isabel’s winds and toppled over. “It’s just firewood now,” Wayland said sadly.
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