Live Oak — Quercus virginiana | The Louisiana Legacy Tree

Plant it for your grandchildren. Feed the land for 500 years.

There is no more Louisiana tree than the Live Oak. Spanish moss draping its branches. Roots holding coastal soil against every storm. Canopy wide enough to shade an entire yard. The Live Oak is not just a tree — it is Louisiana itself.

And it is a food tree. Acorns from Live Oak were a primary food source for Indigenous people across the Gulf South for thousands of years. Processed into flour, the acorns are mild, nutty, and rich in fat and carbohydrates. The acorn flour revival — part of the broader food sovereignty movement — is making Live Oak a kitchen tree again.

Beyond food, Live Oak supports more life than almost any other tree in the South. Over 500 species of caterpillars feed on its leaves. Those caterpillars feed the birds. The birds bring the ecosystem. One Live Oak is an entire habitat.

Why It Belongs in Your Victory Garden

This is the anchor. Every serious food forest has one long-lived canopy tree at its center — a tree that outlasts you and feeds everything that comes after. In Louisiana, that tree is always the Live Oak.

Growing Notes

• USDA Zone: 7b–10 ✅ All of South and Central Louisiana
• Mature Size: 40–80 ft tall, 60–100 ft wide
• Light: Full sun
• Soil: Adaptable — sand, clay, loam; excellent salt and wind tolerance
• Acorn Season: September–December
• Wildlife Value: 500+ caterpillar species; deer, squirrel, waterfowl, woodpeckers

The foundation tree of every Louisiana food forest and coastal restoration planting.