Common Name: Live Oak

Scientific Name: Quercus virginiana

Live Oak - Oval Crowned Shade Tree

Classification: Evergreen         USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-10

Size:

• 60' to 100' width X 40' to 80' height

Growth Habit:

• Broad spread
• Oval crowned
• Slow to moderate grower

Live Oak Bark

Bark: 

• Blackish color
• Thick, heavily ridged

Live Oak Alternate Leaf Arrangement Topside Leathery Green Underside Soft Gray

Foliage:

• Evergreen
• Simple
• Alternate leaf arrangement
• Leathery texture topside
• Soft gray underside
• Immature
  • Three or more rounded terminal lobes
  • Vigorous shoots or sprouts may have sharply toothed margins
• Mature
  • Unlobed
  • Smooth

Live Oak - Catkins

Inflorescence:

• Yellow-green catkins
• Bloom in spring

Live Oak Acorn	Live Oak Acorn Cup

Fruit:

• Acorn
  • 1" long
  • football shaped
  • pronounced barb at tip cap covers around 1/4 of a nut

Live Oak Street-side Tree	Live Oak Shade Tree

Use:

• Shade tree
• Streetside tree in Southeastern US

Midge Gall	Live Oak Gall

Problems: 

• Oak wilt
• Midge galls

Culture:

• Grows in a wide range of conditions
• Salt tolerant

Propagation:

• Seed
• Cuttings

Notes:

• State tree of Georgia
• Will live for hundreds of years
• Exceptionally strong and heavy wood
• Used to construct the ribs and hulls of ships in the 1800s