Live Oak Tree Seeds | Southern Live Oak | (Quercus virginiana)

The broadest canopy in the South. The tree that built the American navy.

Quercus virginiana, the Southern Live Oak, is the most magnificent and architecturally distinctive native tree in the southeastern United States, developing a massive, low-branching, wide-spreading canopy that can reach 100 feet across while remaining relatively low in height, creating the most dramatic shade structure of any native tree in North America. It is evergreen, holding its small, glossy dark green leaves through winter and replacing them in early spring with fresh growth in a brief period of overlap that gives it continuous green canopy twelve months of the year. Its wood is the densest and most decay-resistant of any native oak, so hard it deflected cannonballs, and so valuable to the early American navy that oak forests were reserved by federal law. If you are looking to buy Live Oak seeds or grow this iconic southern tree from seed, this is the tree that defines the landscape of the South.

• Massive, low-branching, wide-spreading canopy reaching 100 feet across, the broadest of any native tree in the South
• Evergreen, holding its glossy dark green leaves through winter and providing continuous shade year-round
• The densest and most decay-resistant native oak wood, historically critical for naval shipbuilding
• Spanish moss-draped Live Oaks define the visual identity of the southern coastal landscape
• Produces small, dark acorns eaten intensively by wood ducks, deer, turkey, and waterfowl

Things you probably did not know about the Live Oak

The USS Constitution was built from Live Oak frames. Old Ironsides, the oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat, was framed with Southern Live Oak harvested from the Sea Islands of Georgia. The combination of extraordinary density, resistance to rot, and curved grain structure of Live Oak limbs made it perfectly suited for the knees and frames of wooden warships. The British cannonballs that reportedly bounced off the Constitution's hull struck planking backed by Live Oak frames.

The US government bought an entire island to protect Live Oaks. In 1799, Congress authorized the purchase of Grover Island off the Georgia coast specifically to protect its Live Oak forest for future navy shipbuilding. This was the first federal land purchase made for a conservation purpose in American history, though the purpose was military rather than ecological. The concept of reserving forests for future national use was established by the need to protect Live Oak.

Live Oaks can live for over 500 years and the oldest known specimen may be over 1,000 years old. The Angel Oak on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina is estimated to be between 400 and 1,500 years old, with most credible estimates suggesting it is at least 500 years old. Its canopy covers 17,000 square feet and its branches, some reaching 89 feet in length, dip to the ground and rise again. It is one of the most visited natural landmarks in the southeastern United States.

The acorns are among the smallest of any oak but among the most important for waterfowl. Live Oak acorns are tiny, less than an inch long, but they are produced in enormous quantities and fall directly into the wetlands and tidal margins where the tree grows, making them one of the primary food sources for wood ducks, mallards, and other waterfowl in coastal southeastern forests. The small size means more acorns per unit of tree canopy area than larger-acorned species.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Quercus virginiana
• Stratification: Required, 30 to 60 days cold moist stratification, recalcitrant seed, keep moist
• USDA Zones: 7 to 10
• Soil: Adaptable, tolerates sandy, acidic, alkaline, and coastal soils, excellent salt tolerance
• Light: Full sun
• Height: 40 to 80 feet
• Spread: 60 to 100 feet
• Growth Rate: Moderate to fast, 2 to 3 feet per year when young

Plant it where it has room to become what it becomes. A Live Oak in full canopy is one of the most powerful natural things you can experience in the American South.