Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Architecture of Oaks

Blue Oak (Quercus Douglasii)

Oaks are some of my favorite trees. They have the most incredible shapes, tall and stately, their gnarled, twisting branches spreading out in all directions to make a nice shaded refuge underneath.

All oaks pictured are in the Shields Oak Grove at the UC Davis Arboretum.

4 comments:

  1. Yes! I'd so love to have one of those in my front garden. Well, seeing them out and about isn't bad either...

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  2. Young oaks are interesting, too. Their determination to live is incredible. In town here, there is a rabid faction that tries to 'save' ancient oaks with hollow centers that may fall on pedestrians or motorists. I've never heard them mention planting new trees around town.

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  3. Beautiful! When you live in a place called Thousand Oaks, you can't help but love them.

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  4. Wonderful pictures - it's hard to capture oaks, how they sprawl out. I was amazed on a recent short trip to Savannah by all the magnificent spreading oaks lining the streets, dripping with Spanish moss (not a moss actually but a plant in the bromeliad family apparently). I think they were Quercus virginiana, the southern live oak.

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