On the maximal distance of spanning trees

Using Ore's definition of the distance of spanning trees in a connected graph G, we determine the maximal distance a spanning tree may have from a given spanning tree and develop an algorithm for the construction of two spanning trees with maximal distance. It is also shown that the maximal distance of spanning tress in G is equal to the cyclomatic number c(G) of G, if G has no bridges and if c(G)≤min(5, |G|−1).