Wendy's Wanderings
August 7, 2023
Live Oak
The August Neighborhood Gardener’s featured plant is the Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana). This interesting tree has long captivated my curiosity. A symbol of the South, these trees live for hundreds of years. They have very dense, strong wood and can seal off rot more efficiently than other oaks. Often live oaks survive strong hurricanes because they defoliate during high winds which reduces wind resistance. The winds blow through them instead of blowing them over.
Live oaks were used in naval ship building in the 1700’s. The lumber from their long arching branches formed the curved structural supports of the ship’s hulls. Well-known ships like the USS Constitution (1797) and the USS Constellation (1797) were live oak vessels. Their lumber for ship building was so valued that naval live oak reservations were established to preserve the trees for future use. These “tree farms” later became parks or conservation land like the Naval Live Oaks Area in Gulf Breeze, Florida.
To the delight of my travel companions I have been known to drive miles out of our way to visit special live oaks like the Angel Oak in South Carolina. The Angel Oak is on John’s Island just outside of Charleston. It stands 66 ½ feet tall and the spread of the tree takes up almost a half-acre. The circumference of the trunk is 28 feet. I knew all that before I got there, but the size of this centuries-old being didn’t really sink in until I tried to take a photo of it. I couldn’t get the whole tree in the field. I wandered back from the wavy limbs to capture the full view and I still couldn’t do it from the park area. If you are close to Charleston, you must go visit this tree.
The Angel Oak in South Carolina is estimated to be 400-500 years old. For scale, note the man standing next to the branch in the lower right corner of the photo.
The folks in Louisiana take their live oaks very seriously. In 1934 The Live Oak Society was founded in Lafayette, Louisiana and the members of the society are the trees themselves. The society helps to preserve and protect live oaks across the South. The Louisiana Garden Club Federation keeps track of the 9,339 members in 14 states. The president of the society is the “Seven Sisters Oak” that resides in Mandeville, La. It is estimated to be 1,200 years old and is the national champion on the national register of big trees.
A little closer to home, the Cellon Oak in Alachua County is a Florida co-champion in the live oak category. The trunk circumference is huge at 30 feet and it is 85 feet tall. To see if there is a champion or a champion challenger near you that is on the champion tree registry visit the Florida Champion Trees page on the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences (FDACS) website. If you know of a champion native tree of any species that might have been previously unrecorded, there is a link to the nomination form on the FDACS website. This registry also has the champions for each county when that information is available.
Even if the oak that you adore isn’t on the "champions" list know that it is favored for its shelter, leaves, and acorns that provide for hundreds of species of insects, birds, and mammals. Gardeners also enjoy this native tree’s wonderful shade, and cooling it provides to our Florida-Friendly landscapes.
-- Wendy Wilber