During the summer of 2010, the Grounds and Landscaping Department at Florida State University inducted eight trees into the Leon County Patriarch Oak Program. The Southern Live Oaks that qualified for the Patriarch designation all have a diameter at breast height (DBH) of at least 72 inches. A basal area of this size suggests that the tree is more than 160 years old, making it older than the West Florida Seminary, from which FSU would eventually arise. The role that these trees have played in setting a foundation for our heritage and landscapes at FSU is quite significant. The oaks stood on the grounds as the first buildings were constructed for the West Florida Seminary, which eventually became Florida State University.
One tree in particular, located at the heart of campus and at the heart of our intellectual center, the James P. Love Oak, stands outside Strozier Library, its massive branches ushering students toward knowledge. This tree, named for James Pasco Love, the FSU Farm and Dairy Operations manager from 1920 until 1958, is arguably the most recognizable tree on campus. Love accepted the position of farm superintendent from Florida State College for Women (FSCW) business manager J. G. Kellum, and “Pasco,” as he was known, moved his wife, Bessie, and their family to Tallahassee from Alachua County. A major factor in his accepting the position was the opportunity for his children to gain a college education. All six of his children went on to graduate from college, five of them here in Tallahassee.
The Love family cottage stood aside the large oak tree in front of Strozier Library. Love raised his family under this tree and managed the farm that provided food and milk for students at the Florida State College for Women. The farm, which became a fairly extensive operation and was located on what is now west campus, grew from 200 to 900 acres over time and housed beef cattle, a variety of vegetables, hogs, a dairy herd, and upwards of 2,000 chickens. Sitting at the foot of Landis Green, the “Love Oak” has witnessed all the institutional and cultural changes throughout the history of our school, embedding it into the complex heritage and culture of FSU.
To help students, alumni, and campus visitors better understand the unique heritage and origins of the university, the FSU Arboretum, still in its infancy, will be connecting patriarch, heritage, and specimen trees with well-known and some lesser-known iconic figures from FSU’s past. Starting with the Love Oak, the father of FSU’s Patriarch and Heritage trees, the FSU Arboretum is endeavoring on a mission to bring to light the cultural significance of these trees to the university and local communities alike, while underscoring the consequences of their loss as the campus grows.
Aside from the patriarch tree program, the FSU Arboretum is also seeking to dedicate trees or groups of trees as FSU Heritage trees. Heritage trees differ from Patriarch trees in that their sheer size is not what dictates their importance. The characteristics that afford a tree the Heritage designation arose from the trees’ proximity to historic structures and their ecological importance or storied pasts. As trees with a historic significance are identified and connected with persons of interest, there will be an opportunity for those visiting campus to become better acquainted with the cultural and natural history of our grounds and the City of Tallahassee via informational placards placed near the trees.
