I can appreciate the beauty of Florida since I lived there for most of my adult life. Although Disney may be the first thing that comes to mind when Florida is mentioned, the state is full of amazing wildlife and vegetation including a famous type of tree.
Flipflopnana has written, "Under The Mighty Florida Oak", and shows us just how mighty this tree is. You'll see live oak trees in movies with their low, sprawling limbs draped in Spanish moss gently swaying in the breeze, and I think that the trees mean "the south" more than any other landmark. It's not only found in Florida, but her writing is about some famous large Florida specimens. I never knew much about the trees except that they were Live Oaks and flipflopnana says the name comes from the fact that "the leaves stay green throughout the winter when most oak trees go dormant."
Her pictures are beautiful and she has a nice photo gallery showing the moss and low hanging branches. My favorite photo on the page is of the "Treaty Oak" in Jacksonville which has a circumference of more than 25 feet and that one has an interesting, short story attached to it. In fact many of the old oaks - they can be 400 years old - have been named and preserved from the widespread development of the state.
The article brought back memories of my own southern yard where I had two of these beauties sprawling over the landscape and shading my grass. My daughter and I used to pull the Spanish moss off the low hanging branches and feed it to our goats. What better tree is there to climb or hang a swing from? I saw my own beautiful trees become skeletons of what they once were when hurricane Charley came through in 2004. My yard was totally covered by the broken branches of the oaks and it broke my heart to see the landscape changed so drastically. Flipflopnana mentions research that was done after the 2004 hurricane season and the resulting find was that the Live Oak is one of the trees most likely to survive such an event and is the "most wind tolerant shade tree".
She doesn't mention it in her write up, but the trees are havens to many creatures including snakes, owls and racoons and certain bromeliads can grow on their limbs. They are mighty trees for many reasons.
If you need a break from winters cold blast, take a walk under the mighty oak and watch as the warm breezes sway the Spanish moss overhead.
Visit: Under The Mighty Florida Oak
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