Southern Live Oak

Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) is a long-lived evergreen oak native to the southeastern coastal United States. Though rarely exceeding 60 to 80 feet in height, its enormous horizontal limbs can spread well over 100 feet, creating one of the widest canopies of any North American tree.

The word live refers to its evergreen habit; it holds leathery leaves through winter, shedding and replacing them in spring. Iconic avenues of moss-draped live oaks define the landscape of the Old South.

Mature specimens can live several centuries, and some famous trees are estimated at over a thousand years old.

• Leaves: Small, leathery, oblong evergreen leaves 2 to 5 inches long, dark glossy green above and pale fuzzy below, with smooth, slightly rolled edges
• Acorns: Slender, dark brown to black nuts about 1 inch long in shallow caps, often clustered
• Habit: Short, massive trunk with low, wide-spreading, often arching horizontal limbs
• Bark: Dark, furrowed, ridged gray-brown
• Canopy: Broad, dense, rounded crown frequently draped with Spanish moss and resurrection fern

An extremely tough, low-maintenance tree once established.

• Light: Full sun
• Water: Drought tolerant when mature; water young trees regularly to establish deep roots
• Soil: Adaptable to sandy, loamy, or clay soils; tolerates salt spray and occasional flooding
• Temperature: Hardy in USDA zones 8 to 10; tolerates coastal heat and wind
• Feeding: Generally needs none in decent soil
• Propagation: From fresh acorns sown in fall; seedlings establish quickly

Give it plenty of room; the spreading limbs need far more horizontal space than the modest height suggests.

Native to the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, from southeastern Virginia south through Florida and west along the Gulf Coast to Texas. It grows in sandy coastal soils, hammocks, and lowland forests, well adapted to hurricanes and salt air.

It is the state tree of Georgia and widely planted as a shade and avenue tree across the Deep South.