World's Largest Live Oak

[Suncoaster]

What a whopper !

[dw911]

@southland

Think you misread, title says “World’s Largest Live Oak”. “Live Oak” is a species of oak. From all my research, this is the largest until a new one is discovered. It is actually a Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) if you want the truly correct name but most of the time when you hear the term live oak they are referring to the SLO.

Yep your quite correct, my mistake for not reading properly before posting

[dchomak]

@MtnDon

There are a lot of board feet of lumber in that tree. And my chain saw bar is too short. :person_facepalming:

Live Oak was historically used in ship building; more resistant to rot than many other woods. The U.S.S.Constitution used a lot of Live oak for it’s exterior planking. Live Oak is very dense, hard. Cannon balls would bounce off it. Hence the nickname “Old Ironsides”.

That reminded reminded me of this.

The White Pine Acts – Who Knew?

In early Colonial times, the King of England had dibs on the tallest and straightest Eastern White Pines for the masts of their ships. Government officials would go around marking the best trees with q “Kings Mark”
Also any plank wider than about 14” was called, if I remember correctly, “a Kings board” and shipped back to England

Also this
How many Oak Trees to make a ship?

[mapache]

Very nice.

A number of years ago my dad and I were on our way back from a camping trip when we saw an old tourist sign for Victoria’s largest tree, we decided to make the detour only to find that it was actually Victoria’s largest tree stump :person_facepalming:

[MtnDon (Don Miller)]

@dchomak

That reminded reminded me of this.

The White Pine Acts – Who Knew?

In early Colonial times, the King of England had dibs on the tallest and straightest Eastern White Pines for the masts of their ships. Government officials would go around marking the best trees with q “Kings Mark”
Also any plank wider than about 14” was called, if I remember correctly, “a Kings board” and shipped back to England

Also this
How many Oak Trees to make a ship?

Yep. The British treated us like…, well, colonials at the time.

[mattadores]

Thanks for sharing! That tree is magnificent and would be spectacular in person.

Noting your post about the limbs removed for semi trailers n such: I also feel like they might be trying to protect the 600 yr old tree from potential climbers too! lol as a rock climber I can attest to the fact it looks like it would be a wicked climb!

[nobody]

I have not seen this tree but have seen the “Angel Oak” outside of Charleston and man, that tree is impressive but I don’t think it’s as old.

[Helios_azimuth]

There is a Canyon Live Oak in the San Bernardino mountains of Southern California that might compete for world’s largest oak. “The oak is 97 feet high, with a 499-inch – or nearly 42-foot – trunk circumference and a crown 98 feet wide. The roots of the behemoth run deep into the side of the ravine where a natural spring flows into a creek below.” The ‘size’ is often calculated by multiplying three dimensions.