Live Oak
Quercus virginiana
By: Logan Piloto and Andrew Hosang
Live Oak
Quercus virginiana
By: Logan Piloto and Andrew Hosang
Background information
- Native to Florida
- Evergreen tree
- produces acorns when its flowers are pollinated
pollinators
- wind pollinated
Medicinal Uses
- A decoction of the bark has been used in the treatment for dysentery.
- Galls produced on the tree can be in the treatment of numerous medical problems involving blood and the bowels.
Blooming Time
- Around March to May
Height
- Ranges from 40-80 feet
Problems
- Aphids (Aphidoidea) and tent caterpillars (Malacosoma) infest Live Oaks
- powdery mildew affects new growth on the tree
Uses
- Serves as a home and food source for many birds and squirrels
- Used as a larval host plant for Horace's duskywing (Erynnis horatius), red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) and white-M hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) butterflies, possibly for Juvenal's duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) and oak hairstreak (Fixsenia favonius) butterflies as well.
Flowers
- small and brown
Hazards
- None that are known
Growing Conditions
- Prefers normal moisture, but somewhat resistant to flood and drought
- Full sun and partial
- Can grow in all kinds of soil, through prefers acidic loam
- sufficient space to accommodate its mature size.
Edible Uses
- Its Pollen is eaten by hummingbirds