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The live oak is a huge and noble evergreen broad-leaf tree with large, spreading, nearly horizontal branches and thick, leathery, oval, dark green leaves. The bark is dark red-brown to gray and deeply furrowed, eventually becoming blocky. The flowers, typical of oaks, are catkins that hang down 2-3". They appear in very early spring and dust the countryside with yellow pollen. Brownish-black acorns about an inch long mature in the autumn of the same year on the current season's twigs. The acorns are sweet and edible. Live oaks are often festooned with Spanish moss, resurrection fern and other epiphytes. Location Culture Usage
Live oak is a fast-growing, yet very long-lived tree. Its life is measured in centuries. The wood is very hard and strong. Dried live oak wood weighs 55 lbs. per cubic foot, making its wood among the heaviest of any tree in North America. There is no better wood for fuel or for charcoal cooking. During the hey-day of wooden sailing ships, the US navy bought large tracts of live oak for the exclusive use of the government's ship builders. The massive, durable arching limbs were sought for ship's ribs and knees. The live oak is the state tree of Georgia.
5/10/97; updated 1/8/00, 1/28/01, 1/6/02, 1/13/02, 3/30/05
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