Revisiting the Seven Sisters Oak

March 20, 2016April 10, 2024 / williamguion / Leave a comment

Though I’ve had a couple of other blog posts in the works, I couldn’t leave the 30-something project behind without a nod to the Seven Sisters Oak, the current president of the Live Oak Society and the former national champion live oak tree species in the American Forests’ Big Tree Registry. It’s also top of my 30-something oak list (Louisiana live oaks with a girth of more than 30 feet).

The Seven Sisters Oak – Live Oak Society President and former Champion Tree of the Southern live oak species in American Forest’s Champion Tree List.

Cyndi and I took a drive from Bayou Lafourche to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain recently to revisit the Seven Sisters Oak, to make some new photographs for the blog and say hello to an old friend. The sky was overcast, making it possible a good day to photograph in the shadows of a towering old oak. The recent rains had turned the resurrection fern a lush bright green. (We also made a stop in Ponchatoula to stock up on local strawberries and visit a couple of other local oaks including the Abbot Paul Schaueble Oak.

While visiting the tree, we met the current owners, John and Mary Jane Becker. They were welcoming and informative about their term as caretakers of this massive oak (almost 40 feet in circumference). The Seven Sister’s Oak shades much of the front yard of the Becker’s home in the historic neighborhood of Lewisburg, near the edge of Lake Pontchartrain, in Mandeville. Mrs. Becker remarked how the old oak was wearing an abundance of new celery green flowers (catkins) when we visited, one indication that the centuries-old tree is still healthy and vital. She also said that last year the oak produced a bumper crop of acorns.

Seven Sisters Oak, view toward the Becker’s home.

If you missed our previous blog post on the Seven Sisters, I’ll recap some of its known history (though what we know about the oak dates back less than 100 years and some estimates of the tree’s age put it to between 600 and 1,000 years old).

The Seven Sisters Oak is actually the second live oak to take the status of President of the Live Oak Society. It replaced the Society’s first president, the Locke Breaux Oak, after its death from air and water pollution (see my previous posts about the Locke Breaux Oak for details).

For years, the eligibility of the Seven Sisters Oak as a society member tree was disputed. It was argued to be several separate trees growing together rather than a single tree. Then in 1976, after inspection by federal foresters, the multiple tree trunks were found to have a single root system. It was accepted into the Society—registered (#200)—and in time, was appointed the new Society President, based on its girth, limb spread, and height.

(A short sidebar. From other sources, I see this is an ongoing argument among tree-measuring folks—whether the circumference of a multi-trunk oak can be compared equally to a single-trunk tree. I take a neutral position on this topic. To me, they’re all very old oaks, and as such deserve to be considered as cultural, historic, and environmental treasures, regardless of the shape or number of trunks.)

The oak tree’s first sponsor was the Doby family who owned the property on which the tree is located at that time (the 1930s). Mrs. Carole Hendry Doby was one of seven sisters in her family and the tree was named originally named “Doby’s Seven Sisters.” The oak was re-registered (#697) by its next owners, Mr. and Mrs. Milton Seiler. The Seiler’s renamed the tree simply “The Seven Sisters.”

Seven Sisters Oak, view from outside of the oak’s canopy, showing new green catkins.

According to the American Forests’ Big Tree Registry, the Seven Sisters Oak had a crown spread of 139 feet, a circumference of 467 inches (approximately thirty-nine feet) and a height of sixty-eight feet when it was last officially measured. Its age has been estimated to be somewhere between 500 and 1200 years old. My most recent measurement (in 2019) puts the circumference closer to 479 inches or 39 feet 11 inches.

How to Measure a Live Oak’s Girth

January 4, 2016July 4, 2021 / williamguion / 3 Comments

First, get a flexible 50-foot tape measure…

Cyndi takes the tape measure to the Seven Brothers Oak in Washington, LA

While photographing and measuring many live oaks across the state, it’s become apparent to me that there is some general misunderstanding about how one should measure the girth (circumference) of a tree. Several of the older and larger live oaks that I’ve measured have girths (by my measurements) that are far less than what is listed in live oak records.

In this blog entry, I’ll explain the method that I’ve learned—which follows generally accepted guidelines used by many foresters, arborists and other tree-measuring folk. Others, with a more analytic and scientific approaches to tree measurement have gone into great detail about the measuring process. So, If you’re looking for more detail, especially about measuring height and limb spread, I’ve included links below to several sources for measuring height and crown spread using both simple and sophisticated tools. For my purposes, a flexible 50-foot tape measure is sufficient along with some way to record your results (pencil and paper).

Here goes:
• Wrap a flexible tape measure around the oak’s trunk at 4 to 4.5 feet above the ground (about chest height) and take the measurement in inches.

• For trees with rounded knotty growths, bumpy burls, limb extensions, or any other abnormalities at 4 to 4.5 feet above ground, measure the smallest circumference between 4.5 feet and the ground. In other words, measure under anything sticking out that might inflate the girth.

• If the trunk is leaning, wrap the tape at 90 degrees to the axis of the lean, instead of parallel to the ground.

NOTE: Dr. Stephens wrote about measuring at an oaks natural “waist.” It’s usually apparent where this is – somewhere around the 4 to 4.5 foot area of the trunk there’s usually a natural indent before the main trunk and limbs begin to flare outward.

Single trunk oak on flat ground (easy to measure)

There are endless variations in the shapes and sizes of oak trunks that make accurate measurement challenging—not to mention entangling growths of vines and plants (like poison ivy) that can throw off your measurements. Some live oaks have single straight trunks and grow from flat ground, making it easy to estimate 4 to 4.5 feet above the ground.

Others are situated on small mounds of soil, leaf litter and a network of roots that make it hard to know whether 4.5 feet should be measured from the ground directly next to the oak’s base or several feet back from the tree on lower, more level ground. I take measurements from both places, a few steps back and closer in, then average the two. Generally, this will place the girth measuring line somewhere between 4 feet and 5 feet on the tree’s trunk.

Multiple trunk oak (hard to measure)

Some live oaks have multiple trunks that divide and flare outward from their main trunk. Sometimes these divisions occur just a few feet from the ground and well below the 4.5 foot point (the Seven Sisters Oak is a typical example). What to do in this case? According to one arborist source, measure below the 4.5 foot line at the place he described as the oak’s “waist”—a natural curve that often occurs below the place where the branch or branches split from the main trunk.

Oak with root and trunk burls (even harder to measure)

Another oddity of old live oaks is root and trunk burls that can completely encircle a tree and exaggerate the girth considerably. From Wikipedia: A burl (American English) or burr (British English) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. Burl formation is typically a result of some form of stress such as an injury or a viral or fungal infection.

When I measure the girth of an oak with a burl like the example above, I’ll measure at 4.5 feet and again above the mass of burls, then average the two. If there’s a single burl obstruction, I’ll measure under the obstruction.

Oak completely covered with poison ivy (let someone else measure!)

Dr. Stephens estimated that an oak with a girth of 17 feet or more (the Live Oak Society today says 16 ft.) should be at least 100 years of age. But he noted also that many live oaks of much smaller girth can be more than 100 years old as well. The girth can vary significantly depending on whether the tree grows out in the open, far from other trees competing for light and water, or in a natural forest setting where it is more crowded (close-grown). Also, the growth rate and overall health of an oak can vary depending on the quality of the soil in which it grows and its access to a regular water source.

As several arborists have explained to me, girth is simply one indication of an oak’s age. This is why Dr. Stephens recommended regular re-measuring of an oak’s girth to determine its growth rate over time—information that may provide a better idea of a particular oak’s true age.

According to Wikipedia: “Girth is a measurement of the distance around the trunk of a tree measured perpendicular to the axis (the vertical center line) of the trunk. In the United States, it is measured at breast height, or at 4.5 feet (1.4 m) above ground level. This “breast height” value is a measurement that’s been used for decades in forestry applications. (CBH is a common acronym you’ll often see in descriptions of tree girth; it means circumference at breast height.) This technique of measuring at breast height was developed because of the simplicity and ease of measurement. There is no one ideal height at which to measure girth.” (Italic emphasis here is mine.)

With all of that said, I’ve listed below three professional sources of detailed measurement techniques for girth, height and crown spread.

American Forests—American Forests uses a specific formula to calculate “Big Tree” points as part of its Big Tree Program (a sort of competition to determine the largest tree of each species). They award a tree one point for each foot of its height, one point for each inch of girth, and one point for each foot of average crown spread. Their measuring guidelines can be found here as a downloadable handbook.

The Eastern Native Tree Society has published a thorough description of detailed measurement guidelines here.

The Monumental Trees website also has simple instructions with helpful drawings and photos here.

(Next blog entry: More 30-something oaks.)

Louisiana’s oldest oaks – older than America

September 7, 2015August 9, 2025 / williamguion / 1 Comment

Oaks with 30-something feet girth
In 2015, I marked 30 years that of photographing live oaks of Louisiana and 10 years since I began the 100 Oaks Project (documenting the 100 oldest oaks in Louisiana). Because of these milestones, I decided to devote 2015 to tracking down the very oldest living live oaks in Louisiana—those trees with girths of 30 feet or more. I was already familiar with a few of the more well-known oaks in this size range, but most were still on my longer list of “trees yet to find.”

Stonaker Oak – near New Roads, LA; 29 ft. 6 in; #16 on original Live Oak Society inductee list.

To compile my list, I included all Society member trees with a circumference of 26’ feet or greater when registered. I knew from experience and from discussions with arborists that mature oaks have an average growth rate of 1” to 1.5” per year. In a half-century, a healthy live oak can easily grow three to four feet in circumference. This narrowed my search to fewer than 30 oaks in Louisiana that could potentially be in the 30-foot girth range.

Before America was America—According to several Louisiana arborists I consulted, oaks of this size are probably between 400 and 500 years of age (add another 100 years or more to this estimate for those oaks with a girth greater than 35 feet). That means these live oaks were likely growing before Europeans settled this continent (the earliest colony was established in 1565 by the Spanish in St. Augustine, Florida; Jamestown, Virginia, was established in 1607). Some were quite possibly growing before the name “America” was first used in print in 1507 as a designation for this continent—in other words, Before America was America.

Seven Sisters color 4_7x13 copy — The Seven Sisters Oak, Lewisburg/Mandeville – National Champion

The 30-something club—One New Orleans arborist I contacted about a tree’s location jokingly suggested I call my list the “30-something club.” So, I’ve incorporated that into the title of this blog entry as well and have included in this list oaks that are almost 30 feet in girth (29′-6″ or greater). To me, these venerable oaks should be recognized as cultural and historical landmarks and deserve a more significant place in public awareness—and even some minimal protection that would allow them to live to whatever ripe old age a live oak can live.

Edna Szymoniak Oak, Hammond, LA (35 ft. 8 in. in girth)

Live oak protection—Tragically, several of the oldest oaks on the Society’s registry have died, fallen off the grid of public awareness or even been removed. It’s important to note that it’s only through public awareness and human interest that a tree’s survival is secured. Currently, there are no state laws in Louisiana to protect historic or heritage trees and only spotty local ordinances that offer any protection from human removal. I’ll cover this in detail in a future blog entry.

Randall Oak, New Roads, LA (36 ft. 7in. girth)

Lorenzo Dow Oak, Grangeville, LA (36 ft. 8 in. girth)

In the next few blog entries, I’ll be documenting my search during 2015 to find these 30-something live oaks. More photos of the oldest oaks can be found at this blog entry here…

Here are the trees in order of size:

Seven Sisters Oak – Lewisburg / Mandeville; 39′-10″
Randall Oak – New Roads; 35′-8″
Edna Szymoniak Oak – Hammond; 35′-6″
Lorenzo Dow Oak – Grangeville; 35′-5″
La Belle Coline Oak – Between Sunset and Carencro; 34’+
The Governor’s Oak – Baton Rouge; 33′-3″
Lastrapes Oak (Seven Brothers Oak) – Washington; 32′-3″ (largest section)
Boudreaux Friendship Oak – Scott; 31′-10″
Lagarde Oak – Luling; 30′-11″
Mays Oak – Near Rosedale; 30′-11″
Blanchet Oak – Lafayette; 30′-7″
Grosse Tete Oak – Bayou Grosse Tete; 30′-2″
Etienne de Bore’ Oak – Audubon Park, New Orleans; 30′
Grenier Oak – Near Thibodaux; 29′-9″
Josephine A. Stewart Oak – Vacherie; 29′-11″
St. John’s Cathedral Oak – Lafayette; 29′-6″
Stonaker Oak – New Roads; 29′-6″
The John Hudson Oak – Prairieville, LA; 29′-6″

(This list has been updated as of December 2020)

As I continue locating and measuring additional oaks through this year, I may expand this 30-something list, but as of September, these are the oaks I’ve personally measured and confirmed to be 29′-6″ or larger.

NOTE: I’ve found a few oaks with girths stated to be larger than 29 feet on the Live Oak Society registry. However, when I measured them, their sizes were smaller. I suspect they were simply mismeasured. Those oaks are not on this list but will be mentioned in my blog entries that follow because they are still very old trees and fit into my larger 100 oldest oaks list.

A bit of background—For those readers who are new to this blog, my wife Cyndi and I began the 100 Oaks Project after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept across Louisiana in 2005. We started with the 43 original inductee trees listed by Dr. Edwin L. Stephens in a 1934 article he wrote for the Louisiana Conservation Review titled “In Louisiana, I saw a Live Oak Growing” (a PDF copy of that article is contained in the “Pages” section of this blog).

Dr. Stephen’s original intent was to establish an organization “to promote the culture, distribution, and appreciation of the live oak.” Members were originally limited to oaks that were at least 100 years of age, determined by a circumference of 17 feet or more, though he revised these requirements to allow registration of “junior-league” oaks with a minimum circumference of eight feet.

Acadiana’s Top 10 Live Oaks

June 6, 2015June 27, 2021 / williamguion / 3 Comments

I just returned from an oak hunting trip through Acadiana to locate the ten oldest live oaks in the area in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. The local tree conservation group, Trees Acadiana, began tracking the oldest area live oaks in the past few years, asking their members and friends to submit favorite old oaks for consideration.

Several of the oaks on Trees Acadiana’s list are from the Live Oak Society’s database of trees that have been registered in the area over the past 75 years. And unfortunately, a few of these trees haven’t been seen or re-measured since they were registered decades ago. In the early days, when trees were registered with the Live Oak Society, details of their location were often minimal – sometimes registration was on a small note card and included only the town or parish where an oak was growing along with the sponsor’s name. Now, two generations later, original sponsors have passed on, properties have changed hands, and the memory of a specific old oak can be pretty fuzzy with local residents.

A few of the oaks on the Trees Acadiana list are near or greater than 30 feet in circumference. This is significant in that there are less than 30 live oaks in Louisiana (that I’ve found) of this size and age. And how old is a 30-foot oak? Age estimates vary, but according to Lafayette area arborist Jim Foret, who has extensive experience with Louisiana live oaks, the most likely estimate is between 400 and 500 years of age. An oak’s size can be influenced by how rich the soil is in which it’s growing, its access to water, and environmental influences like pollution and incursion by foot or vehicle traffic that can impact its root system.

Still, that means 30-foot oaks were possibly mature before Europeans began settling this country – before America was America. For that reason alone, these elder trees should have a more significant place in the cultural and historic awareness of our population, with some minimal protection for them to live to whatever ripe old age a live oak can live. That’s why local organizations like Trees Acadiana are dedicated to reminding people of the importance of live oaks and other trees for the health and beauty of a community.

My goal on this recent trip was to find and verify as many of these top 10 oaks as possible, and share my photos, locations, and new measurements with the folks from Trees Acadiana for their record keeping.

Here’s their top 10 list and a summary of my photos and findings from the trip:

#1 Boudreaux Friendship Oak, Scott, LA (31' 10

Boudreaux Friendship Oak (31′ 10″) Scott, LA

#2 The Blanchet Oak (30′ 7″) Lafayette, LA

(In Sept. 2019, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser newspaper ran a story stating that the Blanchet Oak is “inches away from being the biggest live oak recorded in Acadiana.” The largest oak is the Boudreaux Friendship Oak. The photo below is from that story.)

Screen Shot 2021-06-27 at 8.36.47 AM

La Belle Colline v 8

#3 La Belle Colline Oak (30’+) – Between Carencro and Sunset, LA – Location was verified by Lafayette area arborist Jim Foret.

Cathedra Oak morning_pano study 11

#4 St. John the Evangelist Cathedral Oak – 29′ 6″

#5 Pete Broussard Oak (28′ 6″) – Near Breaux Bridge, LA; unable to locate. No picture available.

#6 Robbins Oak (28′ 2″) Lafayette, LA

#7 Lady Suzan Oak – Near Breaux Bridge, LA (Located oak that is reported to be Lady Suzan, but the measurement was much smaller than when it was registered.)

#8 Robert Earl Sr. Oak (28′ 6″) Lafayette, LA

#9 Rhett Butler Oak (27′ 2″) – Lafayette; located tree but was unable to photograph.

#10 Hooper O’Day Oak (25′ 5″) – Lafayette; located tree but was unable to photograph.

Many thanks to Sarah Schoeffler and Theresa Rohloff with Trees Acadiana for all of their help locating these oaks, and special thanks to Jim Foret for gaining access to the Cathedral Oak and for arriving at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday to help measure the tree.

The Live Oak Society—the original 43 member trees

May 13, 2015June 27, 2021 / williamguion / Leave a comment

The first 43
I recently received copies of two articles written by Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens (founder of the Live Oak Society) for the Louisiana Conservation Review (a discontinued publication of the Louisiana Department of Conservation). Many thanks to Dr. Bruce Turner and Jane Vidrine of the Special Collections Division at the Edith Garland Dupré Library at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette for their help in getting copies of these articles. (They are posted under the “Pages” heading in the right table of contents column of the blog. When the page opens just click on the title and it will open a photocopy of the original article.)

The first article titled, “I Saw In Louisiana a Live Oak Growing,” contains the original proposal by Dr. Stephens to establish an organization comprised entirely of live oak trees that were 100 years of age or older (now called The Live Oak Society). The article’s title is borrowed from a Walt Whitman poem of the same name. This article, dated April 1934, marks the founding of the Live Oak Society in Louisiana and the South.

Stonaker Oak or St. Maurice Oak, New Roads vicinity (29′ 6″) #16 of 43

Stonaker Oak, view #2

The second article is titled “The Live Oak Society.” In it, Dr. Stephens discusses the reactions and comments he received from his previous article and recommendation to form the Live Oak Society.

Stephens’ appreciation for live oaks grew over many years of living in Louisiana and from frequent motor trips he took with his wife along the back roads and byways through Cajun country. Influenced by his background as a science teacher, he observed, measured, photographed, and collected data on the oaks, taking special interest in the oldest and largest of the species.

Parks Oak #1; 25+ feet (#10 of 43)

From his perspective as a scholar and poet, he recognized the deeper truth of this Southern icon—that more than any other aspect of the landscape, the live oak symbolically reflects the most memorable and distinctive characteristics of the cultures and people that settled this rich alluvial region: strength of character, forbearance, longevity, and a hearty nature.

Stephens wrote, “To my mind the live oak is the noblest of all our trees, the most to be admired for its beauty, most to be praised for it strength, most to be respected for its majesty, dignity and grandeur, most to be cherished and venerated for its age and character, and most to be loved with gratitude for its beneficence of shade for all the generations of man dwelling within its vicinity.

…I suggest that the members of the Association shall consist of trees whose age is not less than a hundred years. I at present number among my personal acquaintance forty-three such live oaks in Louisiana, eligible to qualify for charter membership.” Seventy-four years later, the Live Oak Society counts more than 7,000 member oaks on its registry in 14 states (and now includes Junior League trees with a girth of at least eight feet).

Gebert Oak, study 3, #43 of original 43 inductee oaks

Gebert Oak, study 1, New Iberia, LA

In 2008, I wrote an article for the American Forests magazine in which I attempted to locate and photograph as many of the original Live Oak Society inductees as I could locate. Using Dr. Stephens’’ 74-year-old article as a guide, I began retracing his drives across South Louisiana, along bayous with names like Teche, Lafourche, Maringouin, Grosse Tete, and Terrebonne—French and native American names that evoke romantic images of moss-draped trees, Cajun fisherman in flatboats, sultry heat, and white-columned plantation homes. Dr. Stephens listed the 43 charter oaks in order of their size—large to less large—noting their circumference, name (usually that of a sponsor), and general location.

Avery Island Oak number 2; 24′ 1″ (#21 of 43)

I quickly realized that I was naïve about the degree of change that can occur in a landscape over 74 years. Plantation homes have faded away, changed names, been parceled off and subdivided, or simply torn down. Properties have changed owners and entire families have died or moved away.

Avery Island Oak number 2; 24′ 1″ (#21 of 43)

In some cases, oaks have been registered more than once, and by different owners, adding to the confusion between Dr. Stephens description of a tree’s location and the current landscape. Some oak names were familiar to a few locals and were not particularly difficult to find. Others required extensive research through libraries, the Internet, books and the kind assistance of many local librarians, chambers of commerce, sheriff’s deputies and Louisiana Garden Club members across the state.

Thomas Boyd Oak and state capital; 20' 6" (#38 of 43) tree fell down in Hurricane Gustave and has been removed.

Thomas Boyd Oak and state capital; 20′ 6″ (#38 of 43) the tree fell down in Hurricane Gustave and has been removed.

I confirmed that in just 74 years four of the inductees had died including the top three. I suspected that six more were deceased possibly due to urban growth and development (a total of 14%). Of the original 43, I found nineteen oaks (45%) alive and well. I was unable to locate or accurately confirm the identity of fourteen more (but suspect they are still alive).

Since 2008 when I wrote the American Forests article, I continued my search for the rest of the 43 whenever I’m photographing in an area where they were located. At some point soon, I will publish an update that will include any other of the original inductees I have been able to accurately identify and document.

100 Oaks Project

A photo-documentary of the 100 oldest live oaks in Louisiana

100 Oaks Project oaks – Bill & Cyndi list