California Coastal Live Oak

Description:

A wonderful tree with immense personality, the California Live Oak is endemic to the coastal foothills of California. They can reach 200 years of age, have enormous crowns, long thin acorns, and a characteristic jagged branching system. A large number of arthropods are intricately associated with these trees. They also once played an important role as a food source for the early Indian inhabitants of California. A trunk sample shows the irregular trunk growth and the well marked rings show it's growth cycle. I count an age of about 65 years for this one. The ring pattern also shows cyclical series of good years and bad years during the life of this particular tree.

Habitat:

These trees are found on the grounds of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.