Sorting Out Live Oaks: Varieties, Hybrids, Cultivars & Forms

Live oak (Quercus virginiana) is placed within the white oak group due to its flowering and fruiting characteristics. Unlike most other oaks its shoot growth pattern is indeterminate and manifold, and so its wood is diffuse porous. Across its range, different scientists have visualized the species differently depending upon the specific trees and sites observed. Unique tree localities and physiographic regions, coupled with the variability of leaf forms have all led to different sortings of live oak varieties. Add to the natural variability the plasticity of leaf appearance from site to site with hybridization, compounded with confusion over similar looking associated species in the same area, and live oak becomes a genetic complex with tremendous range and identification difficulties. To recognize the genetic concept of live oak, requires more carefully clarifying species, cultivars, hybrids, and varieties.

(FOR03-24) November 2003

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