No complete record of Maryland's tree species exists, but from the best information available, there are probably more than 160 species. Counting the exotic species which are successfully grown here, the list is almost unlimited. The importance of trees, not only in our landscape, but in our very way of life, gains recognition by more people every day. He started an intensive search for big trees of all species growing in Maryland, and a statewide contest was held, greatly increasing the number of nominations for Big Tree Champions. The search continues to the present time and the list changes constantly.
Trees are subject to the ravages of man, machines, insects, disease, nature and time.
Updated annually, this list documents the continuing search for large and historic trees. Hundreds of trees across the State each year are measured and nominated. In multiple stem trees, only the largest single stem shall be measured. To evaluate the relative size of a tree, the girth in inches and the height and crown spread in feet are added together to arrive at a number of points for each tree. This number is then used for comparison of tree sizes in each species.