OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
Genus: Quercus     Subgenus: Quercus     Section: Virentes (live oaks)    

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Quercus virginiana

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-013:

Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae

INCLUDING (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Quercus geminata

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Quercus virginiana

 

COMMON NAME:
Live Oak, Southern Live Oak


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux    dcp34_p30a

        

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_309

        

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_quvi_001_lvd

        

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Alan S. Weakley    asw_1954742201523989

January    Dare County    NC

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm150228_775

February    Charleston County    SC

The Angel Oak of Johns Island is said to be the oldest live oak in North America.

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Keith Bradley    kab_q_virginiana_05921

February    Miami-Dade County    FL

Krome Bird Refuge

Staminate flowers in pendulous catkins near base of current year's twig, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm080301_008b

March    Charleston County    SC

Santee Coastal Reserve

The acorns have so little tannin that they can be eaten off the tree, per Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995).

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm080301_010

March    Charleston County    SC

Santee Coastal Reserve

Acorn cups turbinate or tapered conically, covering about 1/3 of nut, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm080301_011

March    Charleston County    SC

Santee Coastal Reserve

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm080301_137

March    Charleston County    SC

Santee Coastal Reserve

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Keith Bradley    kab_q_virginiana_08841

April    Miami-Dade County    FL

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm0505w_02

May    Charleston County    SC

The Battery

Bark thick, grayish dark brown, rough, deeply furrowed, with scaly ridges, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

JK Marlow    jkm0505w_04

May    Charleston County    SC

The Battery

A large to medium-sized tree with wide low-spreading branches, per Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995).

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Paul Thompson    pstquercus_virginiana

September?        

Leaf margins are thickened and rolled under. — Clemson Extension

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Alan S. Weakley    asw_476997124587272

December    Georgetown County    SC

image of Quercus virginiana, Live Oak, Southern Live Oak

Sam Pratt    sbp_1629

December    St. Johns County    FL

Galls made by the tiny brushy gall wasp, Andricus quercusfoliatus. — Ron Lance

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus virginiana

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-013:
Quercus virginiana   FAMILY Fagaceae

INCLUDING (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus geminata

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus virginiana

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1203

Tree
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: Locally common to abundant in maritime forests and maritime scrub on barrier islands, more rarely inland (though regularly on the mainland from se. NC south, and extending substantially inland from s. SC south), sometimes in dry, fire-maintained habitats more usually occupied by Q. geminata, also planted (especially in the outer Coastal Plain), per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Coastal Plain

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate, 5-ranked

FLOWER:
Spring
Staminate calyx 2-8 lobed, pistillate calyx 6-lobed
Petals absent
3-12 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual

Staminate flowers in clustered drooping catkins

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Acorn

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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