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Southern Live Oak

Quercus virginiana

INDEX

flora

Species Description

An evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the South.

The branches frequently support other plant species such as rounded clumps of Spanish moss, resurrection fern, and parasitic mistletoe.

Monoecious. Male—yellow-green catkin; female—green to reddish spike that emerges from leaf axils.

Species Details

FAMILY

Fagaceae

GENUS

Fagaceae

SIZE

20 metres tall, 27 metres spread

LIFE SPAN

up to 1000 years

HEMISPHERE

Northern

ECOSYSTEM

Along the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic United States, live oak is found in both single and mixed species forests, dotting the savannas, and as occasional clumps in the grasslands along the lower coastal plain. Live oak will survive well on both dry sites and in wet areas, effectively handling short duration flooding if water is moving and drainage is good. Good soil drainage is a key resource component for sustained live oak growth.

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Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST564

Images by DannyBoy7783 at English Wikipedia - Self-photographed, GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81596614

By No machine-readable author provided. Phr~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=490485

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