Human Flower Project
Dwarfed by an Angel
Pre-Columbus and post-Hugo, the Angel Oak has witnessed 1500 years of Low Country history and now makes 17,000 square feet of shade.
Ryoko Miller paints the venerable Angel Oak
Johns Island, SC
Photo: Paint Charleston Daily
Cyndy Clark of Lexington, Kentucky, took off for the South Carolina Low Country last month. From Charleston, she and friend Jane Peters headed for Johns Island and encountered what many say is “the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi.”
The Angel Oak (Quercus virginiana) is estimated to be 1500 years old. “The Tree” as many call it, “would have sprouted 1000 years before Columbus’s arrival in the New World.” Today, it has its own website:
“Live oaks generally grow out and not up, but the Angel Oak has had plenty of time to do both, standing 65 ft high and with a canopy providing 17,000 square feet of shade. Its limbs, the size of tree trunks themselves, are so large and heavy that some of them rest on the ground (some even drop underground for a few feet and then come back up), a feature common to only the very oldest live oaks. It has survived countless hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and human interference, so there’s a good chance it will still be there waiting for you.” Hurricane Hugo damaged The Tree but we understand that it has recovered.
As you’d imagine, this mighty plant serves as a living temple for all manner of ceremony and ritual. The choreographer of Charleston’s ballet, which has performed here during the Spoleto festival, discovered that the whole ballet company, 19 dancers “could hide behind the trunk of The Tree.”
Jane Peters and Cyndy Clark beneath “The Tree” – May 2010
Photo: Courtesy Cyndy Clark
Cyndy reports: “One of the nice things about visiting it is that there’s nothing else around. The island has little commercial development and the roads around the island are shaded by canopies of live oak branches for miles.” For perspective: Cyndy (at right, in turquoise blue) stands 5’4.”
Comments
Amazing to think of your being there decades ago, Carol. Thanks for writing in. We’d love to hear from others who’ve visited this old timer! I’ve not had the pleasure—yet!
I have not visited this tree either, Julie. Another thing to add to my “bucket list”!
Enjoyed the Human Flower Project entry about Angel Oak. I was lecturing in Charleston in March 2009 and that was one of the places I was taken to visit. Take a look—<http://bellewood-gardens.com/Charleston_2009-03_Angel Oak.html>
I saw that tree about 25 years ago. It is very impressive. I still have a picture of it on a magnet on my refrigerator.