Live Oak Society

Revisiting the Seven Sisters Oak

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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.

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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.)

7-sisters-study-1

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.”

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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.

The Marvin McGraw and Mr. Mike oaks

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It looks like I’ll be revisiting the 30-something project on and off during 2016, mainly to add a few “stragglers” – oaks that I missed in my original list of possible 30-something-sized trees or others that have turned up since my last entry.  In this post, I’ll feature examples of both.

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Marvin McGraw Memorial Oak, study 1

The Marvin McGraw Memorial Oak – This old oak was on the first list I put together of Live Oak Society members that could be in the 30-something category. It is located in Reserve, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish. It was registered by Maxie and Pete McGraw (#1428) with an estimated girth of 31 feet (my measurement was 27’-6”). I was able to hone in on the tree’s exact location through help from Maxie and Pete’s brother, Marvin, who is the current director of marketing and public relations for the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge.

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Marvin McGraw Memorial Oak, black-and-white study

He recalled how when he was a child the old oak tree stood in a grassy pasture in the company of grazing cows and horses. His father Marvin, the oak’s namesake, used to tell the kids that the old oak “was already a large tree when Columbus discovered America.” Marvin (the son) also remembered that there was a very old graveyard near the oak where they would find gravestones and wrought-iron crosses with inscriptions written in French.

When I visited the oak, the graveyard had long ago disappeared. And over the years, the open pasture shrunk steadily as it was parceled up into lawns. I found the oak still growing in a small side yard sandwiched between two homes at the end of a quiet residential street.

The Mike Oak – The Mike Oak is located outside of the entrance gate to Oaklawn Manor, which is just off Irish Bend Road and a few miles above Franklin. On the entrance road onto Oaklawn Drive, the oak is in the lot to the left of the driveway that turns right into the Oaklawn Manor gate house and home.  It is not the most lovely of the many oaks in the grove lining Oaklawn Drive, or of the oaks on the Manor grounds, but it is the largest, with a girth in 2015 of 30 feet.

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The Mike Oak, study 1, Oaklawn Manor near Franklin, LA

The land that became Oaklawn Manor Plantation was purchased in 1809 by Irish-born attorney Alexander Porter and it was his Irish ancestry that gave this stretch along Bayou Teche the name “Irish Bend.”Porter served on the Louisiana Supreme Court and also as U.S. Senator representing Louisiana. After his time in the U.S. Senate, Porter retired to Irish Bend and built the Greek Revival home near Franklin that he named Oaklawn Manor Plantation.

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Mike Oak, infrared study

After a series of owners and renovations in the 1960s, the Manor was purchased in 1986 by Murphy “Mike” Foster, Jr. and his wife Alice and underwent another restoration. Foster was elected 53rd governor of Louisiana in 1995 and still owns and lives at Oaklawn Manor today.  The home and grounds are open to the public for tours. Call ahead for tour hours (337-828-0434).

The Mike Oak was registered (#3447 in the Live Oak Society registry) by Mr. Foster and his wife.  I’ve met with Mr. Foster on a few occasions when photographing the oaks at Oaklawn. He even gave me a tour of the grounds on his golf cart to point out the many old live oaks on his property.

As a side note, ex-governor Foster is an oak preservationist at heart. He realizes the importance of this iconic tree to the cultural heritage and ecology of the state and has in the past interceded to stop the removal of many old oaks along the Grand Chenier highway (state Hwy. 82). This highway parallels the southern edge of the state between Pecan Island and Cameron. The chenier oaks, though weather-beaten and bent, help slow erosion of the delicate coastal ridges throughout the “Chenier Plain,” an area extending roughly from Sabine Lake (west) to Vermillion Bay (east) along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

Mr Mike Oak #1

Mike Oak, color study 2

 

How to Measure a Live Oak’s Girth

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First, get a flexible 50-foot tape measure…

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

Ascension Parish – The Martin Oak, the John Hudson Oak

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Ascension Parish and Upper River Road

Ascension Parish has always been a sort of blank spot on my live oak radar. Before I began this 30-something series, I was unaware of the number of live oaks that live there. So, I’ve been surprised and delighted to have located several old and beautiful trees that have led otherwise low-profile lives in this historic parish.

The Martin Oak study 1 – 35' 6" in circumference

The Martin Oak, Gonzales, LA – 37′ 8″ in circumference

I’m not sure if I’ve emphasized enough in my earlier blogs how rare it is that 30-something-foot girth oaks have survived all of the changes that have taken place on the Louisiana landscape in the past 300 years. In her invaluable reference book, Louisiana Live Oak Lore, Ethelyn G. Orso describes the process of “live oaking,” a fairly common practice in the past in which woodsmen would cut live oaks and sell the wood to supply the wooden ship industries of Britain, France, Spain, and the United States.

The Martin Oak trunk and burls

The Martin Oak trunk and burls

Here’s an excerpt from her book on the subject:

“As early as 1709, shipwrights recognized that the near-impenetrable wood (of the live oak) was perfect for timbers and ‘knees’ for vessels. ‘Knees’ were the angular sections of wood taken from the joints between tree limbs and trunks. Such natural joints were stronger than any artificial joints made by shipwrights, and braced the sides of the ships… For the European governments that controlled Louisiana in that early colonial period, live oak wood was the state’s most prized natural resource.

Having practically deforested the European continent in search of the indispensable oak wood for their fleets, British, French, and Spanish rulers looked with greedy eyes to the vast expanses of live oak forests in the southern parts of what would become the United States. Those European governments that gained control of the part of ‘West Florida’ that today is eastern Louisiana claimed the live oak forests as state-owned resources. That led, by the mid-1770s, to a thriving illicit trade in live oak wood between the inhabitants of the area and whoever would pay for the poached wood. In 1811, after Louisiana had become a part of the United States, Louisiana Governor William C. Claiborne began communicating with the secretary of the navy in Washington, DC, and in 1817 an act was passed giving the president of the U.S. the authority to reserve lands with live oak forests for use by the U.S. Navy.”

It was hard times for large live oaks in those early years of the colony and the oaks that survived the wooden-ship era were still faced with the widespread clearing of lands for farming and ranching as well as eventual urban development. So, when I express respect and even awe at the few oaks that have managed to survive (and flourish in some cases) after 300+ years of cutting and clearing, you can understand why.  Now, on to the 30-something oaks of Ascension Parish:

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The Martin Oak, vertical view of trunk

The Martin Tree—(See photos above as well) #1405 on the Live Oak Society registry, this tree was registered with a circumference of 34 feet by Ms. Delba E. Martin. She was born in 1906 and passed on in 1995. With help from the Ascension parish assessor’s office, I was able to locate the property that was once owned by Ms. Martin and the tree is still there.

The shape of the tree trunk is similar to the Rebekah Oak and others—it has a very large burled lower trunk that tapers above 5–6 ft. from the ground. Generally, this is above the 4–4.5 ft. line where one would measure the girth, but with trees like this, I take multiple measurements above and below the 4.5 ft. line and make an average measurement. My estimated girth of this oak is approximately 37’-8″ and still growing.

John Hudson Oak, 29'-8" – Prairieville, LA

John Hudson Oak, #6350 – 29′-6″ – Prairieville, LA

The John Hudson Oak is located in Prairieville, LA at the Hudson House, a beautiful historic family home that’s been in the Hudson family for several generations. The John Hudson Oak is the largest and most impressive of numerous live oaks on the grounds. It has a lovely sweeping canopy that reaches to the ground on three sides. Mrs. Ellen Hudson Waller says that several other oaks on her property are Live Oak Society members.

John Hudson Oak, black-and-white study 1

John Hudson Oak, black-and-white study 1

Hudson Oaks; black-and-white infrared study of two other Live Oak Society trees on Hudson property.

The Joseph Romano and Angelle Romano Oaks; Hudson House, Prairieville, LA.

In my next post, I’ll include the rest of the Ascension Parish list of oaks…

Edna Szymoniak Oak (Hammond) and Lorenzo Dow Oak (Grangeville)

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Oaks east of Acadiana
It was while working on the photographs of Trees Acadiana’s top 10 live oaks that I had the inspiration to extend my search from Acadiana to include the largest and oldest live oaks I could locate across Louisiana.

Edna Szymoniak Oak—Number 3 on my 30-something list is the Edna Szymoniak Oak, located at the entrance to the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Center. Nestled in pine and oak woods about six miles from the city of Hammond, at 21549 Old Covington Highway, the station covers approximately 150 acres of research gardens. It is a beautiful example of a well-cared-for old oak. Its location makes it easy for Research Center visitors to view and it receives the regular protection and care of the AgCenter’s knowledgeable staff.

At 35 ft. 6 inches in circumference, I feel the Edna Szymoniak Oak probably gets far less recognition than it deserves as one of Louisiana’s oldest and largest live oaks. Not much is known about its history prior to the establishment of the Hammond Ag Center, but in this area of the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, there are numerous ancient live oaks, including the Seven Sisters Oak in Mandeville. In a recent Times Picayune article of historic live oaks within a short distance of New Orleans, the Edna Oak wasn’t even included.

Edna Szymoniak Oak, 35′-6″; Hammond, LA

The Edna Szymoniak oak is named after the wife of Boleslaus “Bill” Szymoniak, the first superintendent of the research center station. (From their website) “Established in 1922 as the Fruit and Truck Experiment Station, the LSU AgCenter Hammond has traditionally served the strawberry and vegetable industries.

Today, the AgCenter’s focus is landscape horticulture, including plant selection, fertility, weed control and plant growth regulators. Scientists evaluate more than 500 ornamental plants per year and each spring and fall release a list of “Super Plants” that grow well in all parts of Louisiana.

Edna Szymoniak Oak, study #2

Lorenzo Dow Oak—The next oak on my list has an interesting story connected to its name—the Lorenzo Dow Oak, located near Grangeville, LA.

Lorenzo Dow Oak study; 36′-8″; Grangeville, LA

The oak is named after Lorenzo Dow, who (according to Wikipedia) was an eccentric itinerant American preacher who lived between 1777 and 1834. He reportedly preached to more people than any other preacher of his time. Dow traveled widely around the U.S. preaching “against atheism, deism, Calvinism and Universalism.” Though he lived like a pauper, traveling mostly on foot with only the clothes on his back and a box of bibles, Dow was also a successful author. His autobiography was at one time the second most-read book, exceeded only by the bible.

Lorenzo Dow Oak, Masonic Lodge Oak 2 and corner of lodge building.

Dow traveled to this part of the South in 1803–1804 and probably preached in or near the Grangeville area. His dramatic fire-and-brimstone evangelical preaching style (he shouted, screamed, begged, flattered, cried and challenged his listeners and their beliefs) drew crowds wherever he spoke. His wide influence and popularity resulted in many children of this period being named after him as well as this ancient oak.

Lorenzo Dow Oak, black-and-white infrared study.

Because he was often unwelcome in churches, Dow would preach wherever he could—in town halls, farmers’ barns, open fields and possibly even under the overhanging branches of these two old oaks.

Lorenzo Dow Oak in rain

The sprawling and partially overgrown Lorenzo Dow Oak is located on the grounds of the Grangeville Masonic Lodge #231, along with a second neighboring oak that is 27 feet 11 inches in girth.

The lodge is one of the oldest Masonic groups in Louisiana, with a membership that dates back to 1889, and a lodge building that was originally constructed in the 1930s (and is currently being restored).

This oak was especially challenging to find since its location on the Live Oak Society registry was simply “East Feliciana.” Grangeville is actually in St. Helena Parish, a few miles west of Pine Grove in a northeastern corner of Louisiana, east of St. Francisville (though in the early part of the 1900s many people referred to this area of Louisiana as the “Florida Parishes and referred to east and west Feliciana as just the “Felicianas.”  I finally found online snapshots of someone who had visited the Grangeville Masonic Lodge and so wrote a letter to the lodge and finally located the old oak.

NOTE: Though, “northeastern” may not seem accurate to those living around Grangeville, since it is due east of St. Francisville which is in the middle of the state. Grangeville is located in the northeastern corner of the “toe” of Louisiana’s boot shape that sticks into Mississippi and is only a few miles directly south of McComb, MS. Grangeville is positioned where the boot laces would be on the toe of the boot shape.