The Big Tree, Rockport
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The "Big Tree", one of the most famous live oaks in the world, was named State Champion Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in 1969. It is thought to be one of the largest in the United States. The Texas Forest Service estimates the tree to be over 1,000 years old. The Big Tree is a charter member of the Live Oak Society of America, and has been the subject of one of Ripley's "Believe It or Not" cartoons.
Texas' largest and quite possibly oldest Live Oak tree is found on the Lamar Peninsula of Aransas County in the Goose Island State Park, possesses a circumference of over 35 feet, more than 45 feet tall and has a crown spread of 90 feet. Some say the "Largest Live Oak in the World, in Rockport, Texas."
Before the 1931 opening of the mile-and-a-half-long Copano Causeway, residents of Rockport had to drive many miles inland to get around Copano Bay to get to the Big Tree.
Record or Champion Trees are determined by their girth, their spread and their height. There are many Live Oaks that surpass this tree's height, however when the tree's girth is factored in, it makes this one the Champion Live Oak in Texas. The state's second largest Live Oak is in Columbus, Texas.
[edit] Notes
- ^ State Parks, Phil Plata. Texas Parks and Wildlife - Goose Island State Park. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
- ^ The Big Tree. Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce. Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
- ^ Austin Chronicle Corp. Austin Chronicle: Day Trips Rockport-Fulton. Retrieved on 2006-05-17.
[edit] External links
- Big Tree, Goose Island State Park from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Things to Do: The Big Tree from Rockport Fulton Chamber of Commerce
- Goose Island State Park Rockport, Texas
- The Big Tree, Goose Island State Park
- "The Big Tree" Goose Island from google
