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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Quercus virginiana | Live Oak
 

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BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Quercus virginiana | Live Oak
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Live oak is a shrubby to large and spreading, long-lived, nearly evergreen tree. It drops its leaves and grows new leaves within several weeks in the spring. Open-grown trees average 50 feet (15 m) in height and 36 to 48 inches (91-122 cm) in d.b.h., but can have trunks up to 79 inches (200 cm) in d.b.h. The rounded crowns may span 150 feet (46 m) or more [20,21]. Lower limbs sweep to the ground and then curve upward. Live oak growing at an angle of up to 45 degrees can still support a great mass of limbs. The bark is furrowed longitudinally, and the small acorns are long and tapered. Trees usually have rounded clumps of ball moss or thick drapings of spanish moss [19,21]. The sand live oak and Texas live oak varieties frequently have a shrubby stature which is thought to be soil and moisture dependent. Both varieties become trees in good site conditions [48]. Sand live oak can grow to 33 feet (10 m) in height and 24 inches (60 cm) in d.b.h. Its oblong leaves curl under at the margin and the lower surface is densely whitish-pubescent [11]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Phanerophyte (mesophanerophyte) Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte) Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte) REGENERATION PROCESSES : Live oak is monecious. Acorns are produced annually and often in great abundance [21]. Acorns can be produced on root sprouts only 1 foot (0.3 m) high [45]. Dissemination is by gravity and, to a lesser extent, animals [21]. Germination is hypogeal and occurs shortly after seedfall if the site is moist and warm. Few acorns overwinter since they are eaten by weevils and animals [21]. Live oak is fast growing if well-watered and soil conditions are good. Seedlings can grow 4 feet (1.2 m) in the first year, but this rate tapers off as size increases [19,45]. Under ideal conditions, a live oak can attain a d.b.h. of 54 inches (137 cm) in less than 70 years [20]. Live oak sprouts from the root collar and roots, and forms dense clones up to 66 feet (20 m) in diameter [8]. The sand live oak clones are called groves, and clusters of live oak in the Texas prairie are called mottes. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Live oak grows in moist to dry sites. It withstands occasional floods, but not constant saturation [47]. It is resistant to salt spray and high soil salinity. Live oak grows best in well-drained sandy soils and loams but also grows in clay and alluvial soils [21]. It grows up to 328 feet (100 m) in elevation [11]. The native range of live oak coincides approximately with the southeastern maritime sand strands [35], as well as with the 41.9 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 deg C) isotherm for the average minimum daily temperature of the coldest month [26]. Although generally considered a mesophytic species, live oak is common on xeric, mesic, and hydric hammocks in the southeastern United States. (A hammock is a dense, hardwood forest that occurs in pinelands and in limited, elevated areas amidst wet prairies and marshes.) Although live oak is absent from the wetter areas in hydric hammocks [47], it occurs in some hammocks where its roots are covered by salt water during high tide [45]. Live oak also occurs in flatwood sites and on the outer terraces of floodplains [53]. In the coastal sand plain of southern Texas, live oak forms mottes within grasslands [14]. The sand live oak variety, considered xerophytic, grows on drier and more acid sites than does the typical variety. Sand live oak occurs in greater quantity in the subtropical climates [2,35]. This variety occurs in sandhills with other nearly evergreen scrub oaks including Chapman oak (Quercus chapmanii) and myrtle oak (Q.myrtifolia) [33]. In addition to overstory associates mentioned in SAF cover types, common associates of live oak include southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), water oak (Quercus nigra), pignut hickory (Carya glabra), red bay (Persia bobonia), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). On less well-drained sites, live oak is associated with sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), and American elm (Ulmus americana) [21]. Woody species found with live oak in mottes include American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), and greenbrier (Smilax spp.) [42]. Netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata) and cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia) grow with live oak in riparian areas in Texas [53]. The Texas live oak variety grows in grasslands and in riparian areas. It grows as large trees in deep soils along streams and as large shrubs in canyon headers. Texas live oak is often associated with Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana), Texas red oak (Q. texana), post oak (Q. stellata), and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) [41,42]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Live oak is intermediate in shade tolerance. Once established, it withstands competition. Live oak is extremely salt tolerant, and this resistance may account for its dominance in many climax coastal forests in the northern part of its range [22]. Live oak may also be a climatic climax on Carolina coasts [26]. In the succession from coastal shrub thicket to maritime forest, the typical live oak variety is often preceded by the sand live oak variety. Live oak will usually become the chief dominant, but southern magnolia has the potential of partial or complete dominance [35]. The exclusion of fire has increased the presence of live oak in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. In the absence of fire, live oak expands from hammocks into dry, coastal prairies in Florida and Louisiana. The expanding vegetation is dominated by live oak and saw palmetto, which are characteristic of hammock fringe vegetation [16,24] In the absence of fire, southern magnolia and live oak form a climatic climax on former longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas [8]. Slash pine (P. elliottii)-oak vegetation is also replaced by live oak [16]. In Texas, fire suppression and overgrazing have created a live oak-juniper disclimax in place of mixed prairie [39]. Twenty-five years after abandonment, live oak seedlings appear in fallow agricultural fields on floodplains that once supported live oak. A live oak forest matures 50 years after seedling establishment [12]. In the absence of fire, xeric hammocks dominated by live oak, may develop into mesic hammocks, but changes are slow [46]. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Small flowers are produced in the spring when new leaves are grown. Pollen is wind dispersed during the first 2 weeks in April. Acorns mature the following September and fall before December [19,21]. Sand live oak produces flowers 2 to 3 weeks later than the typical variety when in the same locality [11].

Related categories for Species: Quercus virginiana | Live Oak

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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