Nature Traces: Quercus Virginiana

NATURE TRACES

QUERCUS VIRGINIANA

WRITTEN BY HILARY CREAMER

It is impossible to capture the majesty of a Southern live oak in a photograph, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. Being in the presence of these great sentinels can only clearly register in real-time.

The Southern live oak, or Quercus virginiana, is iconic to the coastal South, conjuring images of its impossibly long limbs swooping to the ground and up again, covered in Spanish moss, swaying in a summer breeze.

Like some gigantic arboreal octopus, a Southern live oak’s expanse can be aweinspiring with wide, far-reaching branches that beg to be climbed. On average, the tree’s crown spread is 80 feet and its height is about 50 feet. Some have recorded crown spreads up to 150 feet!

These trees stand as bastions of time, strong, durable and able to outlive us by many (human) lifetimes. That connection to our past is part of their allure. One could stand in the shade of a Southern live oak, touch its trunk and know it has stood in the same location for hundreds of years—through wars, hurricanes, development and more. Maybe that’s why we Southerners feel such great sorrow when one of these long-time friends is felled by a storm. They represent so much more than just a tree.

Some of the oldest, most well-known specimens receive monikers in the custom of boats and great houses. These respected landmarks are dotted across the South. In South Carolina, you can find the Angel Oak, whose trunk measures nearly 30 feet in circumference. And there’s the Friendship Oak in Long Beach, Miss. It’s believed to date to the year 1487 and has a massive crown spread of 155 feet.

A little closer to home there’s the Etienne de Boré Oak in Audubon Park, with its 160-foot-wide crown spread. The Evangeline Oak on the banks of Bayou Teche in St. Martinville is rooted in Cajun folklore and a famous connection with the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Our Northshore community is home to the Seven Sisters Oak. Located in Lewisburg, it is estimated to be 1,200 years old, has a girth of more than 38 feet and a crown spread of 150 feet. The Seven Sisters Oak has served as president of the Live Oak Society since 1968. The organization has worked to promote

the preservation and appreciation of live oak trees since 1934, but only allows trees to become official members—save one human chairman.

Some 500 St. Tammany live oaks are registered with the society, including the Abbot Paul Schaeuble Oak. This massive tree is located on the cemetery grounds of St. Joseph Abbey near Covington and has a 21-foot girth and crown spread of 95 feet.

We are fortunate to have so many beautiful Southern live oaks on the Northshore. They are in parks, along the streets and in neighborhoods. Some are big, some are enormous, and some are still bedecked with Mardi Gras beads months after the parades have ended. They were here long before I was, and I fervently hope they will be here long after I am gone.

My favorite place to admire these pillars of nature is the Mandeville lakefront on a foggy morning. Where’s yours?

For more information on the Live Oak Society and to see a list of St. Tammany’s registered live oaks, visit lgcfinc.org/ live-oak-society.html.