Stunted Spruce Trees on the Boreal Life Trail

Down by the water of Barnum Brook on the Boreal Life Trail and the lovely wooden boardwalk installed at the Paul Smiths College‘s Visitor Interpretive Center, you see the amazing stunted trees. Here by and in the nutrient poor water the trees grow slowly and stay small. The roots grow into the Sphagnum moss and most of the Tamarack and especially Black Spruce trees are very tiny for their age. Here a tree that has a 2-3″ thick trunk might be 75-100 years old.