If you, like me, are a tree-hugger, you have lots to hug in the South. Of 688 tree species native to the United States, one-third -- 235 species -- occur in the South, more than in all of Europe. That number doesn’t include introduced and naturalized species.
I'm sometimes asked what is my favorite Southern tree. I have many favorites, but if I have to choose a No. 1, it is the live oak (Quercus virginiana). To me, nothing is more symbolic of the South's strength, beauty and glory than a huge, spreading live oak draped in Spanish moss.
So I jumped at the chance the other evening to hear one of the South’s leading tree experts, Kim Coder of the University of Georgia, speak in praise of the live oak during a Georgia Native Plant Society meeting at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Coder has spent the past two years studying live oaks.
“Live oak is an ecological and cultural icon of the Southern United States,” he told us. “It generates awe, reverence, utility and a sense of place. It is symbolic of history, survival, struggle and romance.”
Its hard, dense wood -- tough enough to repulse cannonballs -- was used to build the nation’s first naval fleet. Felled from maritime forests in Georgia and South Carolina in the 1700s, tons of live oak timber were shipped to Northern shipyards to construct the vessels. To this day, natives of several coastal islands debate which island supplied the live oak for the USS Constitution, one of the nation’s most famous sailing ships, known to many as “Old Ironsides.” So much in demand was live oak that it was one of the first tree species to suffer forestwide timber thievery and old growth decimation in North America, Coder said. The advent of ironclad and steel-hulled ships saved the tree, he said.
Poets also exalt the live oak for its haunting beauty and grandeur. Georgia’s most famous poet, Sydney Lanier, sat beneath a live oak while gazing with wonder at the vast salt marshes of Glynn County. It inspired him to write “The Marshes of Glynn,” one of the South's most beloved poems. In it, Lanier praises his shady oak: “Ye held me fast in your heart and I held you fast in mine.” His majestic oak still stands in a grassy median of U.S. 17 in Brunswick.
The live oak’s ecological value also is unsurpassed. By far it is the dominant tree of coastal maritime forests; its bountiful acorns provide nourishment for deer, wild turkeys and a variety of other birds.
For these and other reasons, Georgia chose the live oak as its official state tree. Perhaps the species' only drawback is that it is uncommon outside the Coastal Plain region, rarely found more than 300 feet above sea level.
In the sky: The moon will be first quarter on Friday, said David Dundee, an astronomer with the Tellus Science Museum. It will rise out of the east around lunchtime and set in the west around midnight. Venus, shining brightly, and Jupiter are in the west just after dark and set about two hours later. Jupiter will appear near the moon on Sunday night, and Venus will do so on Monday night. Mars rises out of the east a few hours before midnight. Saturn rises out of the east around midnight.
