by John Schwartzer

We all know there’s nothing trivial about forestry. Trivia is a word derived from a place where three Roman roads came together. “Tri” is Latin for three and “via” meaning road or path. Trivia became the information shared at the crossroads. Here’s your challenge:

Follow this trail of forest trivia and see how many you can get right.

1. What species is the tallest known tree in Pennsylvania?

2. What bird found in Pennsylvania lays the largest egg?

3. What is the largest old growth forest in Pennsylvania?

4. What is the species of tree that has been found to be the oldest in Pennsylvania?

5. What species of tree is harvested the most in Pennsylvania (by volume)?

6. What color are female box turtle eyes?

7. What PA native tree has the largest edible fruit?

8. Where is the first PA state forest?

9. What forest fungi is proposed as the official Pennsylvania state fungi?

10. What insect -excluding butterflies and moths- has the largest wingspan in PA?

# ——————- ANSWERS ————————– #

1. An Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is recorded at roughly 170 feet tall in Cook Forest State Park the previous record also in Cook Forest State Park was the 184 ft Longfellow Pine before it fell in 2018.
PA Big Trees

2. The ostrich (Struthio camelus) these are raised in PA zoos and farms, just kidding. If you want to know the PA native bird with the largest egg it is the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) which lays the longest-2.3 – 3.3 inches long and heaviest egg of PA’s native birds. The egg is dull white and usually laid in a clutch of 1-3.
Bald Eagle Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

3. At 4,131 acres combined, the Tionesta Scenic Area and Research Natural Areas located in the Allegheny National Forest is the largest tract of old growth forest between the NY Adirondacks and the TN/NC Great Smoky Mountains.
Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas — Old-Growth Forest Network

4. Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) a living tree in the Cook Forest State Park has been dated to 555 years old. The oldest Eastern North American hardwood tree is the blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) at over 600 years old. A dead Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) was found in Ontario Canada that died at 1653 years old. The ‘Sacred Oak’ is a chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) estimated to be 500-700 years old (unconfirmed).
RMTRR OLDLIST

5. More red maple (Acer rubrum) volume is harvested than any other species of tree in PA-roughly 60 million cubic feet were harvested in 2019. But don’t worry, it’s also the most common tree and has a growth to harvest ratio of 2:1 meaning for every cubic foot of wood cut down it is growing back twice as much.
Volume Trends-Pennsylvania Forests 2019

6. Usually brown. Male box turtles(Terrapene carolina carolina) generally have red or orange eyes, but not always.
Eastern Box Turtle | NC Wildlife

7. Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). This small tree in the custard apple family reaches the northeastern most point of its range in PA. Fruits can be up to 6 inches long and weigh up to 2 pounds.
Discover Pawpaw, Pennsylvania’s Unusual Native Fruit – The Arboretum at Penn State

8. In 1898, 7500 acres of Clinton County was purchased to later became Sproul State Forest named for the PA Governor William Sproul. The first state park purchased was Valley Forge in 1893, later transferred to the National Park System. Mont Alto State Park remains the oldest PA state park since 1903.
History | Department of Conservation and Natural Resources| Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

9.The hemlock varnish conk (Ganoderma tsugae) while this hasn’t been voted on yet, this hemlock decaying species was selected in a public survey to become the state fungi. Pennsylvania is the number one producer of farmed edible mushrooms in the country.
Pa., the mushroom capital of the world, may soon have an official state mushroom | Outdoors | northcentralpa.com

10.Eastern Dobsonfly(Corydalus cornutus) has a wingspan of up to 5 inches. The larva or hellgrammites are a common fishing bait and indicate low water pollution levels. Other historic PA local names include Ho Jack, devil catcher, and bogert.
Eastern Dobsonfly