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Live oak or evergreen oak is a general term for a number of unrelated oak
Oak

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
s in several different sections of the genus Quercus that happen to share the characteristic of evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 foliage.

The name live oak comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and "live" throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant, leafless and "dead"-looking. The name is used mainly in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, where evergreen oaks are widespread in warmer areas, along the Atlantic coast from Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, west along the Gulf Coast to Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and across the southwest to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 and southwest Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
.

Evergreen oak species are also common in the warmer parts of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, and are included in this list for the sake of completeness.






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Live oak or evergreen oak is a general term for a number of unrelated oak
Oak

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
s in several different sections of the genus Quercus that happen to share the characteristic of evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 foliage.

The name live oak comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and "live" throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant, leafless and "dead"-looking. The name is used mainly in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, where evergreen oaks are widespread in warmer areas, along the Atlantic coast from Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, west along the Gulf Coast to Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and across the southwest to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 and southwest Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
.

Evergreen oak species are also common in the warmer parts of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, and are included in this list for the sake of completeness. These species, although not having "live" in their common names in their countries of origin, are colloquially called live oaks when cultivated in North America.

When the term live oak is used in a specific rather than general sense, it most commonly refers to the Southern live oak
Southern live oak

Quercus virginiana, also known as the Southern Live Oak, is an evergreen or nearly evergreen oak tree native to the Southeastern United States United States....
 (the first species so named), but can often refer to other species regionally.

The live oak is the official state tree of Georgia.

In Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, a small grove
Grove (nature)

A grove is a small group of trees, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nut . Other words for groups of trees include woodland, copse, woodlot, thicket or spinney....
 of live oaks (Texas live oak or Southern live oak) is known as a mott.

Wood

Live oak was widely used in early American shipbuilding. Because of the trees' short height and low hanging branches, lumber from live oak was specifically used to make curved structural members of the hull such as knee braces. In such cuts of lumber the line of the grain would fall perpendicularly to lines of stress creating structures of exceptional strength. Live oak was not generally used for planking because the curved and often convoluted shape of the tree did not lend itself to be milled to planking of any length. Red oak or white oak was generally used for planking on vessels as those trees tended to grow straight and tall and thus would yield straight trunk sections of length suitable for milling in to plank lengths. Live oak was largely logged out in Europe by the latter half of the 19th Century and was similarly sought after and exported from the United States until iron and steel hulled commercial vessel construction became the standard early in the 20th Century. Live oak lumber is rarely used for furniture due to warping and twisting while drying. It continues to be used occasionally when available in shipbuilding as well as for tool handles for its strength, energy absorption, and density, but modern composites are often substituted with good effect. Dry southern live oak
Southern live oak

Quercus virginiana, also known as the Southern Live Oak, is an evergreen or nearly evergreen oak tree native to the Southeastern United States United States....
 lumber has a specific gravity of 0.88, the highest of any North American hardwood.

Evergreen species in genus Quercus

  • Section Quercus. The white oaks
    List of Quercus species

    This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species....
    . Europe, Asia, north Africa, North America. Styles short; acorns mature in 6 months, sweet or slightly bitter, inside of acorn shell hairless.
    • Quercus arizonica - Arizona white oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus fusiformis - Texas live oak - south central North America
    • Quercus geminata - Sand live oak - southeastern North America
    • Quercus ilex - Holm oak - southern Europe
    • Quercus oblongifolia - Mexican blue oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus polymorpha - Mexican white oak or Monterrey oak - Mexico
    • Quercus pungens - Sandpaper oak - south central North America
    • Quercus turbinella - Shrub live oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus virginiana - Southern live oak - southeastern North America


  • Section Cerris. Europe, Asia, north Africa. Styles long; acorns mature in 18 months, very bitter, inside of acorn shell hairless or slightly hairy.
    • Quercus calliprinos - Palestine oak - western Asia
    • Quercus coccifera - Kermes oak - southern Europe
    • Quercus semecarpifolia - Himalayan oak - eastern Asia
    • Quercus suber - Cork oak - southwestern Europe


  • Section Protobalanus. Southwest USA, California coastal ranges & northwest Mexico. Styles short, acorns mature in 18 months, very bitter, inside of acorn shell woolly.
    • Quercus chrysolepis
      Quercus chrysolepis

      Quercus chrysolepis, commonly termed Canyon live oak, is a species of evergreen oak that is found in the southwestern part of North America, notably in the California Coast Ranges....
       - Canyon live oak - southwestern North America, especially coastal ranges of California
    • Quercus palmeri - Palmer oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus tomentella - Channel island oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus vacciniifolia - Huckleberry oak - southwestern North America


  • Section Lobatae. The red oaks
    List of Quercus species

    This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species....
    . North, Central & South America. Styles long, acorns mature in 18 months, very bitter, inside of acorn shell woolly.
    • Quercus agrifolia - Coast live oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus canbyi - Canby oak - Mexico
    • Quercus emoryi - Emory oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus humboldtii - South American Oak - northern South America
    • Quercus laurifolia - Laurel oak - southeastern U.S.
    • Quercus hypoleucoides - Silverleaf oak - southwestern North America
    • Quercus rhysophylla - Loquat-leaf oak - Mexico
    • Quercus wislizenii - Interior live oak - southwestern North America


See the list of Quercus species
List of Quercus species

This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species....
 for a fuller listing of oaks including deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 species.

See also

  • Angel Oak
    Angel Oak

    The Angel Oak is a Southern live oak tree located in Angel Oak Park, in Charleston, South Carolina, on Johns Island, South Carolina, one of South Carolina's Sea Islands....
  • Oak Alley Plantation
    Oak Alley Plantation

    Oak Alley Plantation is a historic plantation located on theMississippi River in the town of South Vacherie, Louisiana,United States of America....
  • Seven Sisters Oak
    Seven Sisters Oak

    The Seven Sisters Oak is the largest certified southern live oak tree. Located in Mandeville, Louisiana, it is estimated to be up to 1,500 years old with a trunk that measures 38 feet ....
  • Treaty Oak
    Treaty Oak (Austin, Texas)

    The Treaty Oak, a once-majestic Southern live oak in Austin, Texas, is the last surviving member of the Council Oaks, a grove of 14 trees that served as a sacred meeting place for Comanche and Tonkawa Tribes....
  • Holm Oak
    Holm Oak

    The Holm Oak , also called Holly Oak or Evergreen Oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from wikt:holm, an ancient name for holly....


External links