Oaks are common both in Minnesota and Louisiana. Like pines, oak species are different in the north vs. the south. Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana ) is a distinctive and beautiful oak species found along the Southeastern Atlantic Coast from Virginia to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. Live Oaks retain their leaves nearly all year, which is why they are named “Live”. They are not true evergreens because they shed their leaves in the spring just prior to emergence of next year’s leaves.
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is draped across the branches of the oaks in the pictures below. It actually is not moss, but rather a flowering plant in the Bromeliad family. While Spanish Moss uses trees like Live Oak and Bald Cypress for physical support, it is not parasitic. Plants like this that have no roots but absorb nutrients and water from humidity and rain are known as epiphytes.
The pictures above show a majestic Live Oak along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville LA. The largest Live Oak registered by the Live Oak Society is only a few miles from this oak. It is known as the Seven Sisters Oak, and has a trunk nearly 40 feet in diameter.
The pictures above show the “oak alley” located in Fontainebleau State Park, a few miles east of Mandeville LA. These oaks were planted around 1850 when the site was a plantation and sugar mill owned by Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville.
North MN Outdoors 