Live Oak

A large, iconic tree commonly reaching 50 feet tall with a massive trunk and wide-spreading limbs. In open spaces, its branches often sweep the ground and form a dense, low canopy. The crown can spread more than 100 feet across.

Native to the southern coastal plain from Virginia to Texas, including Central and South Texas. Grows well in well-drained soils and is widely used as a landscape tree across the state.

Leaves are simple, alternate, evergreen, and leathery. They are oval to elliptical, 2 to 4 inches long, dark green and glossy on top, with pale silvery undersides. Some leaves may have slight teeth near the tips.

Male and female flowers appear in spring on the same tree. Male flowers grow on catkins up to 3 inches long; female flowers emerge in leaf axils on short stems.

Acorns mature in one season, measuring about 1 inch long and half an inch wide. They are shiny, dark brown, and sit in a gray fuzzy cup that covers about half the nut.

Bark is dark brown and deeply furrowed with thick ridges, though some trees may have thinner, scaly bark. The wood is extremely strong and was historically used for shipbuilding and wagon hubs.

Texas live oak is found further west and north and tends to be smaller with multiple trunks. Mexican blue oak is a rare evergreen species of West Texas with different foliage.

Live oak wood was prized by shipbuilders for naturally curved limbs. It was used in restoring the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) with oak from Texas trees killed by oak wilt.