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Quercus virginiana Live oak Evergreen tree (1 Page of 5) The Quercus virginiana plant species is found in Southeastern N. America - Virginia to Florida and Texas. It is a member of the Fagaceae family. Common gardeners may know the plant as Live oak. Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses Medicinal | Edible Uses Latin Name: Quercus virginiana Common Name: Live oak Family: Fagaceae Author: Mill. Known Hazards: None known Mature Height: 20 Mature Width: Habitat: Sandy dry to wet soils, especially by the coast[43, 149]. Usually found in sandy-loam soils, but it is also found in heavy clays[227].
Edible Uses: Seed - raw or cooked[63, 161, 171]. Low in tannin, it has a sweet flavout[82]. The seed is usually produced in clusters of 3 - 5 and is about 25mm long and 10mm wide[82, 200]. It is about 12mm long according to another report[227]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed contains bitter tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.
An edible oil obtained from the seed is used for cooking[149, 161, 177].
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
For further Quercus virginiana gardening information click on one of the blue links below Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses Medicinal | Edible Uses
The information above has been supplied solely via the hard work and dedication of the team at 'Plants for a Future'. View their bibliography

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