The live oak (
Quercus virginiana) is an iconic southern tree. Its historical native range is primarily restricted to the Gulf Coast of the Deep South, but it has long been planted in our local, inland landscapes, and with good reason. Other than its handsome appearance, much could be said in favor of its robust constitution. The live oak is a drought-tolerant, salt-tolerant, long-lived, and moderately fast-growing shade tree that makes for excellent hardwood lumber (think
Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution).
The century-old grounds of Centenary College offers many fine examples of the live oak species. You can find long rows of live oaks along the eastern and western edges of the campus. In the arboretum collection, we have two examples. They were foundational plantings of the Morehead Memorial Concourse, completed in 1957. The planting of these two trees antedates both the construction of Hamilton Hall and the founding of the arboretum.
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| Our tree of the week is a live oak. It is pictured center. It's more than 60 years old. |
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| The live oak is an evergreen tree, and in this photo, it's surrounded by other evergreen species. We are lucky in northwest Louisiana to have so much green in December! |
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| The live oak is known for having a short trunk with thick, heavy, low-hanging branches that spread out horizontally. Non-native Asian jasmine covers the roots of this specimen. |
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| The bark on the trunk is thick, rough and dark. |
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| The simple, narrow live oak leaves are dark green. Some leaves, like the one pictured above, have toothed edges. This leaf measures less than 4 inches in length. |
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| Underneath, the leaves are a very light shade of green. |
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| These leaves measure less than 3 inches. They are dark green with an elliptical shape. Leaf edges vary between wavy and toothed. |
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| Light green underneath |
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| Water oak leaves (left) are similar to live oak leaves (right). These leaves are approximately the same length, and they are all simple with slightly wavy edges. The live oak leaves are darker green and have a pointed tip. |
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| If we flip the leaves over, the live oak leaf is clearly lighter underneath, almost white. |
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| Also, the water oak has a few fuzzy spots along its midrib. |
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| Unlike the water oak, the live oak is an evergreen tree. Here, on the young branches of the live oak, we see acorn caps mixed in with the evergreen leaves. |
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| Empty live oak acorn caps and leaves |
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| Ditto |
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| Cups abound, while acorns are scarce. |
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| Most caps were firmly attached to their twigs. These few caps were wiggled loosed. |
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| Live oak acorn caps measure about a half inch in length. |
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| Live oak acorn caps are cup-shaped, which is to say they are deep, rather than shallow. |
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| For comparison, the water oak acorn caps are saucer-shaped, or shallow. Three water oak acorn caps are pictured on the left. Three live oak acorn caps are pictured on the right. |
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| At this point in the season, it was difficult to find live oak acorns on the ground. These mini-mortar shells are approximately an inch long. |
For more information about this species consult the following:
United States Department of Agriculture
University of Florida IFAS Extension
Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours (LSU AgCenter)
NC State University
