- The Big Tree, Rockport
The "Big Tree", one of the most famous live
oak s 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 theLive 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, inRockport, 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 .Notes
#cite web
author=State Parks, Phil Plata
url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island/
title=Texas Parks and Wildlife - Goose Island State Park
accessdate=2006-05-18
#cite web
url=http://www.rockport-fulton.org/frames/tree.htm
title=The Big Tree
work=Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce
publisher=Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce
accessdate=2006-05-18
#cite web
author=Austin Chronicle Corp
url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/1999-12-24/cols_daytrips.html
title=Austin Chronicle: Day Trips Rockport-Fulton
accessdate=2006-05-17External links
*
* [http://www.rockport-fulton.org/frames/tree.htm Things to Do: The Big Tree] from [http://www.rockport-fulton.org Rockport Fulton Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island Goose Island State Park Rockport, Texas]
* [http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHistory/TexasHistoricTrees/Goose-Island-Oak.htm The Big Tree, Goose Island State Park]
* [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Big+Tree+Goose+Island "The Big Tree" Goose Island] from [http://www.google.com google]See also
List of famous trees
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