Жасыл жемісті емен ағаштары

Group of evergreen trees in the oak genus Quercus
evergreen oak trees

Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus Quercus that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. According to the Live Oak Society the oldest southern live oak is believed to be the Seven Sisters Oak located in Mandeville, Louisiana with an estimated age of 500–1,000 years. The southern live oak is the official state tree of Georgia. The Seal of Texas includes a live oak branch. A small grove of live oaks on a prairie is known as a mott.

Live oak was widely used in early American butt shipbuilding. Because of the trees' short height and low hanging branches, lumber from live oaks was used in curved parts of the frame, such as knee braces (single piece, L shaped braces that spring inward from the side and support the deck), in which the grain runs perpendicular to structural stress, making for exceptional strength. Live oaks were not generally used for planking because the curved and often convoluted shape of the tree did not lend itself to being milled to planking of any length. Red oak and white oak were generally used for planking on vessels, because those trees grow straight and tall, with straight trunks long enough for planks. Loggers had cut down most of the live oak trees in southern Europe by the latter half of the 19th century. Live oak timber from the United States was similarly sought and exported until metal hulled commercial vessels became the norm in the early part of the 20th century. Live oak lumber is rarely used for furniture, because it warps and twists while drying. The wood of live oaks continues to be used occasionally in shipbuilding—and in tool handles for its strength, energy absorption, and density, although modern composites are often substituted with good effect. Dry Southern live oak lumber has a specific gravity of 0.88, among the highest of North American hardwoods.