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Glyptostrobus 25 
ADM: Nea 
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PHOTOS BY DAVID MCGUIRE 
In 2015, the author partnered with other researchers and local collaborators to locate more than six hundred previously undocu- 
mented Glyptostrobus in the Nakai-Nam Theun National Park. The author (at right) measures tree height using a clinometer, and 
a tree climber ascends to the upper canopy. 
and finding out from contacts if there were any 
other trees in the national protected area. Max- 
well and I corresponded regularly during this 
period. Likewise, Philip Thomas was a huge 
source of support and encouragement. Finally, 
in the spring of 2014, my collaborators and I 
received funding, and we went on to get permits 
and work on the expedition plan that summer. 
With the help of National Geographic fund- 
ing, we were able to document more than six 
hundred other mai hing sam between ten and 
thirty miles from the original stand. These 
plants occurred in the newly renamed Nakai-— 
Nam Theun National Park, an area that has 
been under the management of the Water- 
shed Management and Protection Authority 
since 2005. The trees in the oldest stand are 
more than three feet in diameter at chest level 
and five hundred to more than one thousand 
years old. Many of them are over six feet in 
diameter, and the largest is over ten feet. (We 
recorded 11.2 feet—3.4 meters—but it’s diffi- 
cult to get the measuring tape behind all the 
woody vines and strangler figs on the trunk.) 
The neighboring communities call the largest 
tree the “mother tree.” It is more than 138 feet 
(42, meters) in height. We believe it could be two 
thousand years old, but it is not the tallest tree: 
that claim goes to one we documented at 184 
feet (56 meters) tall. 
While these trees are protected in the park, 
illegal activities still occur. Sometime between 
September 2015 and February 2016, two hun- 
dred mai hing sam were logged, leaving the 
