Prior to the arrival of European American settlers and explorers, the Allegheny Mountain Range of the Appalachian Mountains was overlaid with old-growth forests consisting predominantly of deciduous hardwood trees, which were characterized by individual trees of enormous size and girth [REF].
Formerly West Virginia's largest American sycamore, the Webster Sycamore (alternatively known as the Webster Springs Sycamore and the Big Sycamore Tree) was located in a moist flood plain along the banks of the Back Fork Elk River, a tributary stream of the Elk River, in Webster County [REF].