Are live oaks that old?editor: I enjoy American Forests. Not before the Winter 2006 issue have I wondered about the accuracy of the material therein. The article titled, "Southern Comfort" starts with a startlingly star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. fine black and white photo of an old grove of live oaks. Unfortunately, the text heavily emphasizes the great age--to 1,200 years--that live oaks are purported to reach. In Floral City, Citrus County, Florida Citrus County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 118,085. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 138,143 [1]. Its county seat is Inverness, Florida6. (about 20 miles west of my home at "Towering Oaks"), there is a still-existent, beautiful live oak-lined street. This view was featured in the 1936 movie "Gone With the Wind." These mostly grandfather oaks were planted in 1884 or just 50 years before! At the battleground where Major Dade and over 100 U.S. soldiers were murdered by Indians and escaped slaves in 1835, the detailed map made a few months later shows not a single oak. This is startling star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. , because dozens are there today and one of them, just northwest of the museum, is an especially large and apparently very old one. The oaks that live hundreds of years are neither southern nor live oaks. They are European or more northerly species. They are also very exceptional individuals. It may be true that the ivory-billed woodpecker has survived in the swamps of Louisiana CODE, OF LOUISIANA. In 1822, Peter Derbigny, Edward Livingston, and Moreau Lislet, were selected by the legislature to revise and amend the civil code, and to add to it such laws still in force as were not included therein. , Arkansas, or the mountains of Cuba, but the evidence, so far, doesn't support this hope. Still, having a Cornell University ornithologist supporting this position counts for something. I have seen the woodpecker woodpecker, common name for members of the Picidae, a large family of climbing birds found in most parts of the world. Woodpeckers typically have sharp, chisellike bills for pecking holes in tree trunks, and long, barbed, extensible tongues with which they impale "evidence." The out-of-focus movie second or two is far from convincing. I share [author Gary] Lantz's hope, but so far there is more convincing evidence for the Loch Ness Monster Loch Ness monster “Nessie”; sea serpent said to inhabit Loch Ness. [Scot. Folklore: Wallechinsky, 443] See : Monsters Loch Ness monster supposed sea serpent dwelling in lake. [Scot. Hist. and several other nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non spirits than for living ivory-billed woodpeckers. Richard Cary Paull via e-mail While it is true that size should not be equated with age, it is a fact--as we said in the story--that the average age for live oaks is more than 200 years. The age of the Seven Sisters, the national co-champ live oak in Louisiana--estimated by foresters at more than 1200 years--was obtained from both the Live Oak Society and chairman Coleen Perilloux Landry. |
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