Saturday, October 1, 2011

A Canopy of Oaks

Mobile is known by airline pilots as the "city under the trees" mostly due to the oak trees that line our streets. The summer afternoon thunderstorms and late winter/early spring showers that make Mobile the rainiest city in America also help create the perfect environment for growing monster-sized oak trees.  Though the trees used to line Mobile's streets in the early years were the chinaberry tree (also known as the Pride of India) due to its fast growth, they were soon replaced by the native live oaks. Today, virtually every major corridor of the old city has a live oak canopy.


Bienville Square

Government Street

Old Shell Road

Washington Square

"Duffy" Oak, Caroline Avenue

"Twelve Oaks", Palmetto Street near Square
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2 comments:

  1. DrickOctober 2, 2011 at 6:59 AM

    whoa Simona, those are massive... beautiful photos and you are right, we are somewhat hidden under the canopy, at least along the historic districts. maybe that is why we sometime appear to be off the radar.....

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  2. SimonaOctober 2, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Drick, the Old Shell Road Oak tree was in the backyard of our first house. A tree expert told us it was at least 500 yrs old. Its canopy shaded four backyards...

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