Live Oak
(Fagaceae Quercus virginiana)
Adopted in 1937.
In 1937, the live oak, Fagaceae
Quercus virginiana, was adopted as
the official tree at the request of the
Edmund Burke Chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution.
It flourishes along the coastal
plains and on the islands where the
first settlers made their homes. Many
famous Georgians, as early as General
James Edward Oglethorpe, were able to
enjoy its beauty.
Live oak (Quercus virginiana), also
called Virginia live oak, is evergreen
with a variety of forms, shrubby or
dwarfed to large and spreading,
depending upon the site. Usually live
oak grows on sandy soils of low coastal
areas, but it also grows in dry sandy
Woods or moist rich woods. The wood is
very heavy and strong but is little used
at present. Birds and animals eat the
acorns. Live oak is fast-growing and
easily transplanted when young so is
used widely as an ornamental. Variations
in leaf sizes and acorn cup shapes
distinguish two varieties from the
typical, Texas live oak (Q. uirginiana
var. fusiformis (Small) Sarg.) and sand
live oak (Q. virginiana var. geminata
(Small) Sarg.)
Description:
- Leaf: Alternate, simple,
evergreen, leathery, 2 to 5 inches
long, oblong or elliptical in shape
with an entire or spiny and revolute
margin. The upper surface is
lustrous, the lower is pale and
pubescent. Generally, not
bristle-tipped.
- Flower: Staminate flowers
borne on catkins. Pistillate flowers
borne on spikes. Appearing March
through May.
- Fruit: Acorns are in
clusters of 3 to 5, maturing in one
season. The nut is dark in color,
3/4 inch long and covered 1/3 by the
cap. The cap is bowl-shaped and
warty, termed "turbinate" by Harlow
et al. Maturing in September of the
first year.
- Twig: Slender, gray and
pubescent, with small, blunt,
multiple terminal buds.
- Bark: Rapidly developing
red-brown furrows with small surface
scales. Later, becoming black and
very blocky.
- Form: A medium-sized tree
that can grow to massive
proportions. Open-grown trees
develop a huge rounded crown. The
largest crowns may be 150 feet
across.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae -- Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta -- Vascular
plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta – Seed plants |
Division |
Magnoliophyta – Flowering
plants |
Class |
Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons |
Subclass |
Hamamelidae – |
Order |
Fagales – |
Family |
Fagaceae – Beech family |
Genus |
Quercus L. – oak |
Species |
Quercus virginiana P.
Mill. – live oak |
Source:
Dendrology at Virginia Tech
U.S. Department of Agriculture
|