This 900+ year old Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) is a magnificent sight.
When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Is it the sun-drenched fields of cotton and corn? The beautiful live oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss that line the streets and give shade to our homes? Or maybe it’s the charming old homes that fill the towns, or the friendly people who call these places home.
The famous Lover’s Oak Tree in Brunswick, GA rivals the famous Angel Oak on John’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina in size, age and intricate beauty. This wonderous example of a Southern Live Oak is located in the Old Town Historic District of Brunswick, GA at the intersection of Albany and Prince Streets.
The name of “Lover’s Oak” is derived from a local historic legend**. Evidently, Native American braves met with their maidens under the majestic limbs of this enormous tree.
The Southern Live Oak is known for growing outward as much as growing upward. Often the breadth, or width, of the tree is a good bit greater than the height.
The Lover’s Oak in Brunswick, Georgia is estimated to have been here long before this country was “discovered” by the Old World explorers (dare we mention the name Christopher Columbus?). The trunk has a diameter of 13 feet and that branches into 10 limbs, each being between 12 and 30 inches in diameter.
An informational plaque at the Lover’s Oak reads: “The National Arborist Association and The International Society of Arboriculture jointly recognize this significant tree in this bicentennial year as having lived here at the time of the signing of our constitution.”
** Another legend has it that this tree is where two young lovers were caught kissing by their parents and cast out into the cold. The couple was so distraught by their separation that they committed suicide by hanging themselves from the branches of this very tree. It is said that if you stand beneath its branches at midnight on any Friday night, you’ll hear the cries of their spirits as they search for one another.
Use the links below to see more of these images and how they look on different wall art substrates. There are prints, framed prints, canvas presentations, acrylic and more.
Link: Lover’s Oak Tree in Brunswick, GA
Link: Lover’s Oak in Brunswick, Georgia
Link: Lover’s Oak Tree Trunk and Limbs
Link to: Bill’s full Pictorem Gallery
Link to: Bill’s full Fine Art American Gallery
Wow! I’d never heard of this huge ancient tree before! It looks amazing! Beautiful photographs and a fantastic tale!
Thank you Alexios. While this is not a famous at the Angel Oak in South Carolina, it it a very impressive tree. It is difficult to understand just how amazing these old Southern Live Oak trees are until you get to stand beneath one.