Queen palm

Queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana)  Family: Arecaceae

 This has become a popular ornamental all around the world in tropical and subtropical areas. One attractive feature for landscape gardeners is that this palm can obtain a height of 20 feet within 5 years if grown on good soil with ample water and fertilizer. On campus an attractive specimen can be found in the Williams Building court yard. In Hawaii the seed is known as monkey nut and is used in making jewelery and leis. It originates from the South America (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay).

In Queensland Australia and Southern Florida it is considered to be an invader. In Florida (designated a category II) means it hasn't been shown to impact native plant communities so far but it is clearly naturalized and showing signs of being a problem. In this case it is spreading from planted areas in a few counties in the southern half of the peninsula - apparently mostly in developed areas. Its fruit are bird dispersed.

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Williams building courtyard, with Queen Palm.

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Dawn Redwood

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)  Family: CUPRESSACEAE

The two Dawn Redwood trees on the Florida State campus are near the Starbucks and the new health center. They are easily mis-identified as bald cypress. Dawn redwood shares the deciduous habit and buttressed roots that bald cypress but it is more closely related to the redwoods (genus Sequoia). The genus Metasequoia was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era (more than 68 million years ago) by Shigeru Miki in 1941, but soon after this a living representative, this species Metasequoia glyptostroboides, was found and described from a few small forests in China just after the second world war. Since then the plant has been planted worldwide and is not an uncommon ornamental tree. A large forest has been established and seedling grow wild in North Carolina but the tree has not established a wild population in Florida yet.

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Dawn Redwood leaves.

Dawn Redwood foliage

Dawn Redwood trees near the new health and wellness center on FSU campus.

Bark and fruit of Dawn Redwood

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Bald cypress

Taxodium distichum is bald cypress, and is in the cypress family (Cupressaceae)

This is planted around the FSU campus in a few places, especially in low lying areas near drains and ditches. A few nice examples occur just to the west of the tennis courts. It is normally associated with swamps in SE coastal plain region of North America - Delaware to Texas. It occurs statewide in Florida but not in the southern most counties. Good examples occur at Wakulla Springs.

Deciduous bald cypress growing in Wakulla Springs

The buttressed roots of bald cypress.

Fruit of bald cypress

Description: Grows tall and straight to about 40 m in height with some trees having large buttresses. Deciduous. Leaves: Green 8-20 mm long - feather like in appearance. Fruit: globose cones.

Similar to: Pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) is similar but the pond cypress in form but the leaves are short 3-6 mm (needle like in appearance) and appressed to the supporting branchlets.

Pond cypress leaves and fruit.

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Map of bald cypress on the FSU campus - click for more information.

Introduced palms on campus

The Palm family has the taxonomic name Arecaceae but was previously given the more intuitive Palmae unfortunately through the vagaries of botanical nomenclature this Latin name is considered old fashioned now.

The most common palm on campus is the native species and state tree Sabal palmetto which outnumbers all the other palms on campus 2 to 1. The non-native species we have are the Pindo Palm (Butia capitata), the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera), the Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis), and the Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta).

Mexican Fan Palms are typical of Venice Beach in LA - just think Hollywood. Date palms are typical of oases in the middle east, and Canary Island Date Palms are just a fairly common ornamental. Scroll to the bottom to see the map of these palms on campus.

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Pindo Palm (Butia capitata)

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Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta)

Some famous Mexican Fan Palms in LA's Venice Beach.

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Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis)

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Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera)

Non-native Palms on the Florida State University Campus

American Sweetgum

Family: Altingiaceae

Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum, Alligator wood

This trees is native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Despite the similarity of its leaves to maple or oak it is in a completely different family. It always seems like this would have been a better common name for maple. The distinctive spiny fruit are shared across the genus, and Asian species in the same genus are used medicinally. The wood has been put to various uses, including imitation mahogany. It is a common ornamental, probably because of its fall colors. Those colors are much more vibrant the farther north you go.

In Florida sweetgum is found from Tampa northward and occurs in both lowland and upland woods.

Form: A large tree up to 40 m in height. Leaves: Alternate, simple 10-18 cm (sometimes more than 20 cm), star shaped with long petioles, serrated margins. The alternate leaves makes it easy to distinguish from maples. Flowers: March-May,when leaves are half grown greenish. Male and female flowers are born on the same tree. Male flowers are in terminal racemes two to three inches long, covered with rusty hairs; the female flowers are born on a slender peduncle borne in the axil some leaves. Fruit:Hard spiny balls 2.5-4cm in diameter hanging on long stalks are made up of fused ovaries, making it a compound fruit with 40-60 seed capsules. These fruit are persistent and quite distinctive for the species. Bark: Grayish, fissured and interlacing. The plated bark on small twigs gives it another common name: Alligator wood.





Leaves and fruit of sweetgum. Sweetgum bark. Sweetgum's super distinctive fruit.

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Sweetgum Map Florida State University Campus see in separate window

Pecan and Water Hickory

Walnut Family (Junglandaceae).
The Pecan Carya illinoinensis
Pecan is a native to North America but introduced (and now wild) in North Florida. It is a medium to large sized deciduous tree 100-140 feet tall. The leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, ten to twenty inches long, each with 9-17 leaflets that are 4-8 inches long. The flowers are unisexual, both sexes are borne in separate clusters on the same tree. The fruit are thin-shelled nuts; four winged from base to apex, borne in clusters of three to twelve. A ridge is formed where the two halves of the outer fruit come together. The fruit is dark brown in color and covered with yellow scales. The husk is thin and brittle. The husk often persists on the branch into the winter after dropping the nut. The nut is thin shelled with a reddish-brown color and pointed at both ends. The bark is grayish brown or light brown and is flat ridged and shallowly furrowed. This tree's distribution follows the river basins very closely, principally along the Mississippi and its tributaries, the Colorado River in Texas, and along some of its tributaries in Mexico. It appears that several hybrids are grown on campus. This tree is similar to other Hickories: It is distinguished from water Hickory Carya aquatica by having glabrous (i.e. hairless) leaf parts, and from black walnut (Juglans nigra) by its grayish bark (black walnut has dark furrowed bark).

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Pecan leaves

Pecan bark

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Walnut Family (Junglandaceae).
Water Hickory Carya aquatica
This 60-70 foot deciduous Florida native grows best in wet well-drained soils along stream banks and flood plains throughout the southeastern United States. It grows from eastern Carolinas, south to central Florida, and west to Eastern Texas. The alternately arranged pinnately compound leaves are 9 and 15 inches long. Each compound leaf has 7-17 lance-shaped leaflets with finely serrate margins that are 3 to 10 inches long. The topside of the leaflet is dark green and glossy, while the underside is a paler green with sparse pubescence (or hairs) present along the veins. Water hickory bark is gray or light brown with narrow cracks that give rise to reddish scales. When mature, the bark looks shaggy with flakey plates. Small greenish flowers bloom in the spring. Male and female flowers bloom on the same branch between April and May, with male flowers occurring in three-stemmed clusters called "catkins," while 2 to 10 female flowers appear on short stalks. The bitter nuts or pecans are enclosed in a dark brown, 1- to 1 ½-inch-long, thin-shelled husk, which splits along four winged seams to release the nut.

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Water hickory leaves and fruit
Water hickory bark

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Pecan and Hickory Map Florida State University Campus see in separate window

Don't be yellow about your pine ID.

FAMILY: PINACEAE

Here is a quick guide to distinguishing the three most similar and common pines around Tallahassee. These are known as the Yellow Pines for their wood color and they are slash, loblolly and longleaf pines (Pinus elliotti, P. taeda and P. palustris respectively). Hopefully this blog will help you and there will be no need to whine about pine ID after reading this. Keep an eye out for more pine descriptions on this blog but this one should really cover most of your needs around Tallahassee.

Slash and longleaf pines are associated with the widespread flatwoods ecosystem in Florida which could also be called and pine savanna - it is often prone to fire which allows the ecosystem type to persist. Loblolly is more common on the uplands in north Florida.

Slash pine has a distinctive reddish plates on its bark and 2-3 needles per fascicle - the other two have flakier bark and 3 needles per fascicle. Sessile cones on loblolly (6-10 cm) often persist on the tree year round, usually in pairs or threes, it has flaky but often furrowed bark. Longleaf pine have stalked cones longer than 15 cm and its 3 needles per fasicle are 15-30 cm long, with a distinctive silvery terminal bud.

Now let's let the pictures do all the talking.

Distinguishing yellow pines, slash, longleaf and loblolly -cones and needle drawings.

Distinguishing yellow pines, slash, longleaf and loblolly - photos.

Pinus palustris longleaf pine bark

Pinus taeda loblolly pine bark

Pinus elliottii slash pine bark (the easy one).

Pines on FSU grounds in Tallahassee (click on point for more information - link for more).

FLOWERING DOGWOOD - spring is here - soon.

FAMILY: CORNACEAE the dogwood family

One good clue that spring is here is when the dogwoods start to flower, you might get a few early ones coming out in February but usually March is the time. This year (2012) it has been kind of springy already in early February but we could be in for few more frosts. The flowering cycle of a plant is called its "phenology" (though the term applies to other cyclic natural phenomena)  you can find out more about when plants normally flower in our region at a website about Panhandle plants . Often the last frost in Tallahassee is in March....though they may occur in April. Say good-bye to cool-cold nights.

Cornus florida habit

According to the Florida Natural Area Inventory plant is typical of slope forests, scrub, uplands and sandhills, suggesting this beauty is a pretty versatile midstory tree in Florida forests. One characteristic that these vegetation types share is reasonable drainage, often with sandy soils or better than average topographic relief (for Florida).

Description: Small deciduous tree to 12 m with blocky bark. Flowers: Showy yellow heads of twenty or so miniature flowers are in the middle of creamy white subtended bracts that look like petals. The variety C. florida var. rubra has showy pink bracts. Fruit: An ellipsoid bright red berry. Leaves:3-10cm long and 2-7 cm wide opposite, broadly elliptic.

Similar to: the blocky bark can look like black haw (Viburnum rufidulum) and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), the flowers are pretty clear indicators but the leaves can look like other dogwoods (especially stiff cornel dogwood; Cornus foemina.

Cornus florida flowers (the yellow part are various small flowers) with larger white bracts that look like what we typically think of as a "flower".

Flowering dogwood fruit.

A map of dogwood (click on the points to see more information).

The Florida State Tree

Family: ARECACEAE the palm family

The palmetto, cabbage palm, or sabal palmetto is the state tree for both South Carolina and Florida. It is native to the Bahamas, Cuba, Florida and grows as far north as Virginia. Its habitat includes mesic temperate to tropical hammocks are often dominated by oaks but may have significant component of Sabal palmetto and occur from the panhandle down into the middle of the Florida peninsula. Here we let pictures do the talking for our fabulous state tree....

Palmetto or Sabal palmetto

A typical v-shaped Sabal palmetto leaf.

A Palmetto also graces the cover of a popular book about Florida trees by Gil Nelson.

Description: Straight trunked palm to 18 m in height Flowers: During June and July, abundant, small (.5cm), fragrant, white flowers are born on drooping branched panicles. Fruit: Round and black born in drooping clusters. Leaves:Fan shaped 1-2 meters long, deeply divided and V shaped, shiny green above and gray-green below. 

Similar to: Other palms, but the V shaped fan like leaves are pretty distinctive.

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A clickable map of the larger palmetto palms on FSU grounds in Tallahassee.

American Elm - hanging on in America.

Family: Ulmaceae or the elm family which includes elms, sugarberries and hackberries

Ulmus americana

American Elm - American Elm
There are five species of elm growing wild in Florida. American elm is not the most common species on campus but it is widespread in Florida. The American elm is more or less susceptible to numerous diseases, including the Dutch elm disease (originally from Asia but first described in Holland) which was unintentionally introduced to the United States in the 1930s and killed millions of trees throught out the country - completely altering the ecology of its native range the eastern US . Disease resistant genetically modified varieties were bred and engineered and put on the market in the 1990s. It is the state tree for Massachusetts and for North Dakota. According to the Flora of North America Native American tribes used it for medicinal purposes, including coughs and colds, sore eyes, dysentary, diarrhea, broken bones, gonorrhea, and pulmonary hemorrhage, as a gynecological aid, as a bath for appendicitis, and as a wash for gunwounds. The most common elm species on campus is is the introduced ornamental Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia which has become naturalized in at least two counties in Florida and has self-sown seedlings coming up near plantings on campus.

 Description: Medium to large deciduous tree up to 40 m tall.Flowers: Small clustered in drooping catkins. Fruit: A flattened samara. Leaves:2-15cm long and 1-10 cm wide alternate, simple , two ranked, oval in shape. Margins doubly serrate, bases are not symmetrical - they are unequal either side of the mid-vein. Point tips. More important details: Bark light brown to gray, deeply fissured or split into plates. Wood soft. Branches pendulous, old-growth branches smooth, not winged; twigs brown, pubescent to glabrous. Trunk base is often supported by buttressed roots

Similar to: Similar to slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) but differs because the upper surfaces of the leaves are smoother, only slightly rough. Buds are chestnut brown, nearly glabrous, and pointed rather than purplish-brown, redhaired and blunt as is the case in its slippery cousin.

Ulmus americana has samaras (a type of winged seed).

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Map of American Elm on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

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Get your gestalt on - oaks with lobed leaves at FSU

Family: FAGACEAE or the beech family which includes Oaks

There are 24 species of oak (trees and shrubs) in Florida, and 50-60 in North America north of the border so it is no small task to sort them all out. Acorns! When present these provide a good clue you are dealing with an oak. That is a good first step (if they are present at the time of year that you are looking). However more than few of the deciduous oaks look superficially similar, so you need to be pretty sharp to distinguish them. Here we look at a few examples that are multi-lobed (3-9+) and bristle tipped, these include Shumard oak and Nutall's oak. Mostly we have Shumard and Nutall's oaks planted on the FSU campus - and often in close proximity. Included for interest is turkey oak, there are none on campus but it is common in Tallahassee. In this posting we look at all three together to facilitate their comparison.

Quercus shumardii

Shumard oak - Quercus shumardii

Description: Medium to large deciduous tree up to 30 m tall.Flowers: Long narrow hanging catkins 14-18 cm long. Fruit: Acorn, solitary or in pairs, 1.5-2.5 cm long, cup shallow saucer shape and enclosing about a third of the nut. Leaves:7-15cm long and 6-12 cm wide alternate, simple and and lobed with 7 or sometimes more lobes, each lobe with several smaller secondary lobes, upper surfaces dark green, lower surfaces also shiny green but with small tufts of pubescence in the vein axils, old and fallen leaves with black spots on the surface.



Similar to: Distinguish from the other bristle tipped and lobed oaks by having only tufts of pubescence on lower leaf surface and by having straight rather than twisted petioles, and from the species most similar to it black oak Q. velutina by have more than sevel lobes. The shorter, relatively wide leaf distinguishes sterile specimens from Nuttall oak.

Map of Shumard oaks on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

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Quercus nuttallii from the Louisiana State University website

Nuttall oak - Quercus texana and formerly Q. nuttallii

Description: A deciduous tree to 25+ m in height. Bark dark brown with flat ridges divided by shallow fissures. Twigs red-brown to gray. Flowers: Male flowers borne from tips in conspicuous hanging catkins. Fruit: Acorn 2-3 cm long, biennial; cup thin (scale bases visible on inner surface), deeply goblet-shaped with pronounced constriction at base. Leaves:alternate, simple 7-20 cm long x 5-13 cm with 6-11 asymetric lobes and 9-24 awns, lobes; lower leaf surfaces hairless except for conspicuous axillary tufts of tomentum, veins raised, upper surface not raised and free of hairs.



Similar to: Occurs only in cultivation in Florida but is native in nearby Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi where it is common in wetlands. Bristles or awn like tips of leaves less acute or numerous than Shumard oak.

Map of Nuttall oaks on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

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Quercus laevis

Turkey oak - Quercus laevis

Description: A small deciduous tree to 15m in height with grey furrowed and blocky bark. Flowers: Male flowers borne from tips in conspicuous hanging catkins 8-12 cm long. Fruit: Acorn 2-3 cm long, wide at base and tapering to apex. Leaves:alternate, simple 7-30 cm long with 3-7 deeply cut bristle tipped lobes, bases tapered, lower surfaces hairy in the vein axils and petioles twisted so the leaves are held verticle to the ground.

Similar to: Distinguished from southern red oak Q. falcata by a lack of rusty tomentose undersurface on leaves, but the tapered rather than U shaped leaf bases of post oak (Q. stellata) and from sand-post oak by the leaf lobes being pointed rather than rounded.

Map of turkey oaks on FSU grounds in Tallahassee (there are none known at this time)

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Japanese privet

Family: OLEACEAE the OLIVE family

Japanese privet Ligustrum japonicum is one of three types of privet on campus.

Ligustrum japonicum or Japanese privet is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 2–6 m. It is commonly planted as a hedge because of its foliage and fragrant flowers. The plant is dispersed by birds and is quite shade tolerant. This has helped it establish wild populations in Florida and elsewhere around the world.

Description: Japanese privet is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 2–6 m with smooth, pale grey-brown bark. Flowers: Fragrant white, with a four-lobed corolla 5–6 mm long; they are borne in clusters 7–15 cm long in early summer. Fruit: An oval drupe, 10 mm long ripening to purple black coler. Leaves: Opposite 5–10 cm long and 2–5 cm wide, glossy dark green above, paler glaucous to yellowish green below, thick and leathery textured, and entire.

Similar to: Japanese privet is closely related to the Chinese privet Ligustrum lucidum, differing in its smaller size (L. lucidum being as tall as 10 m), and elongated oval (not subglobose) fruit

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Most of the Japanese privet on campus are not of sufficient size to be called a tree on FSU grounds in Tallahassee, this shows the larger specimens.

Quercus geminata Sand Live Oak

Family: FAGACEAE or beech family

Sand live oak, St. Joe's Bay.

Sand live oaks Q. geminata are similar to live oaks Q. virginiana. Only a few are on Florida State University campus, and they can look similar when grown in similar conditions. It is widespread in southern Florida all the way to the Keys and from Louisiana to North Carolina. It is not restricted to beaches, and is also found in sand-pine scrub, coastal hammocks and similar habitats.

Description: Roughly ridged bark. Flowers: hanging catkins. Fruit: Shiny dark brown acorns often black at tip, 1-2 cm long. Leaves:alternate, simple and entire, thick and leathery 2-12cm long x 0.5-4 cm wide, dull grey below.

Similar to: Sand live oak, (Quercus virginiana) which does not have depressed veins and revolute leaf margins (looking like a boat when looked at from the bottom). The bark is not as rough either.

Add caption

Flora of North America Illustrations including both Sand Live Oak and Live Oak


See specimens in the FSU herbarium.

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Map of sand live oaks on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

Crape myrtle or Lagerstroemia indica

Family: LYTHRACEAE the pomegranite and purple loosestrife family

Crepe myrtle or Lagerstroemia indica

Crape myrtle is the most common ornamental tree or large shrub on campus. Originally from Asia this plant is a popular ornamental in Florida and beyond. There are various >30 cultivars which were selected for their flower form and timing, plus disease resistance (especially against powdery mildew).
Description: Deciduous shrub or small tree to 8+ m in height with twisted branches and smooth brown bark. Flowers: a showy panicle (branched cluster of flowers) about 30 cm long. Colors white, pink, red or purple. Fruit: Egg shaped capsule. Leaves:Opposite or alternate, simple, mainly elliptic 2-7 cm long 1-4 cm wide.

Similar to: Pretty distinctive, not many similar plants.

Winged seeds of crape myrtle Photo: Steve Hurst. Provided by ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory. United States, FL.

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A clickable map of crape myrtle on FSU grounds in Tallahassee.

The Hollies - on campus

Family: AQUIFOLIACEAE the holly family

Holly or Ilex vomitoria though we are considering all the types on the FSU campus in this posting.

The Holly (Ilex) genus is popular among landscape architects, nurserymen and home gardeners. Botanists recognize approximately 470 taxa including 20 American Holly species, 120 Oriental species, and nearly 200 varieties of the English Holly. Many of the cultivars establish wild self-sustaining population in fields and near planted areas. The fruit are commonly dispersed by frugiverous birds. Shrubs or trees, mostly evergreen. Not all hollies have spiny leaves like the ones we associate with Christmas wreaths. There are least 5 varieties or species of tree sized hollies on campus.

Description: Shrub or small tree to 20+ m in height, mostly evergreen. Flowers: Flowers usually unisexual, usually 4-merous; petals connate at base. Stamens sometimes slightly united at base. Fruit: Usually globose and often bright red. Leaves:Usually alternate.

Similar to: This variable group of species likely to be similar to many other taxa but the fruit and flowers are often distinctive

 East Palatka Holly ( Ilex x attenuata 'East Palatka') growing at Rovetta Hall this is a natural hybrid between Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine) and Amercian Holly (Ilex opaca) that was discovered in 1927 growing near East Palatka,Florida

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A clickable map of all holly species and cultivars that have the size of a tree on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

Quercus virginiana an outstanding tree.

Family: FAGACEAE or beech family

A medium sized live oak on FSU campus.

Live oaks stand out among trees in Tallahassee providing a lasting first impression for visitors. In the FSU's picturesque park like grounds live oaks grow into impressive sprawling specimens dripping in mosses (lichens) and ferns. On hot summer days they provide welcome shade. Though these oaks are evergreen they lose and replace  their leaves year round.

Description: Large sprawling tree up 30+ m tall.Flowers: hanging catkins. Fruit: Shiny dark brown acorns often black at tip, 1-2.5 cm long. Leaves:alternate, simple and entire, leathery 2-15cm long x 1-5 cm wide, pale grey and slightly tomentose below.

Similar to: Sand live oak, (Quercus geminata) which has depressed veins and revolute leaf margins.

Live oak Acorns. Photo: Steve Hurst. Provided by ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory. United States, FL.


See specimens in the FSU herbarium.

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Map (click on points for information) of live oaks on FSU grounds in Tallahassee

Bluford W. Muir. Provided by National Agricultural Library. Originally from US Forest Service. United States, LA, New Orleans, Audubon Park. 1937.

FSU's Patriarch Oaks

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.