Toxey discovered this young live one fall afternoon, and noticed that its acorns were still green when they should have been littering the ground. A follow up trip around Christmas time revealed loads of fresh, mature acorns gracing the sidewalk, so he stopped what he was doing and collected a bunch. That was three or four years ago, and the ‘late drop’ live continues to shed its mast about a month and a half to two months later than most other live oaks.

The acorns also have a slightly different look, and a noticeably sweeter taste. Combining those traits with its tardy acorn drop leaves us confused as to whether or not this tree is a hybrid with another type of live oak, a grandchild of a live hybrid that has backcrossed with live, or simply a Southern live with its own personality. Just to illustrate how special this tree is, one surprise seedling nicknamed ‘nugget,’ sports a three inch caliper and acorns at the age of three!

We recommend planting these guys mixed with our other live oaks in hopes of providing a wide window of acorn drop time from mid-October through December. Be sure to provide plenty of space for these trees, because all live oaks prefer to grow wider than tall. Take notice Texas folks!