For 467 years, an eastern hemlock in the mountains of Western North Carolina has counted the seasons ring by ring. Now, Highlands Biological Station (HBS) scientist Liam Stiefel has translated those rings into music, allowing us to listen to the tree’s centuries-old record.
By translating measurements of its growth into musical notes, and by combining its tune with those of three younger neighbors, Stiefel has distilled more than four centuries into a 4-minute, 19-second melody.
COK021, the first member of this creekside quartet, is the oldest eastern hemlock yet documented in the southern Appalachians, with its first ring dating back to 1559.