The forests of the Chesapeake region were vast and contained many trees of immense proportions. Oaks and Walnuts grew very big but the largest trees in the Chesapeake were probably cypress and chestnuts. Smith observed that with the cypress trees, “…there are some near three fathoms about at the foot, very straight, and 50, 60 or 80 [feet] without a branch.” Chestnuts were more abundant in the northern Chesapeake and were truly the giants of the Eastern Forest. Mature chestnuts could reach 120 feet or more in height and have a canopy 100 feet across. Another prominent tree Smith and his crew saw was the American Elm. It could be up to 90 feet high. Chestnut and Elm have vanished from Chesapeake forests due to disease, and except for a few remnants, cypress trees have disappeared from the region through over harvesting.