City Park's Live Oaks

Two hundred years ago City Park was a swampy oak forest, home of Accolapissa and Biloxi tribes who traded by dugout canoe along the banks of Bayou St. John. City Park's forest includes approximately 14,000 mature trees and approximately 50 species including Bald Cypress, Southern Magnolia, Pine and a variety of oaks including the most populous Southern Live Oaks (more than 3,000 specimens), Water, Overcup, White, Sawtooth, Cow, Cherrybark, and Nuttall Oak.

The Park is home to the largest collection of mature live oaks in the world, some several hundred years old. There are several traits that make the live oak unique among oaks. It is evergreen, or almost so, because the old leaves drop about the same time as the new leaves appear in the spring. Thus, the name "live" oak. It has a distinctive low spread and form, almost sculptural. It is common to see mature trees with lateral limbs that reach the ground. Many old trees have a branch spread which is twice the height of the tree.

City Park's oldest and largest live oaks are located along the vestiges of old Bayou Metairie, a remnant of an ancient distributary of the Mississippi River. The McDonogh estimated at 600 years old, Dueling and Suicide Oaks are among the remnants of this ancient forest that started long before Iberville and Bienville first scouted the area for a site to build the city and port that became New Orleans.

Help preserve City Park's live oaks!

City Park has over 14,000 trees that are greater than 4 inches in diameter. It is also the home of the largest stand of mature live oak trees in the world. These trees are part of our community's living history .

You can help care for the thousands of magnificent trees that make City Park so special. The Friends of City Park have established a Tree Fund to provide the professional care needed by the Park's greatest trees. Your tax-deductible gift will help preserve and maintain our community's urban forest. For more information on City Park’s trees and how you can help preserve them, contact the Friends of City Park at (504) 483-9376, visit the Friends of City Park home page or email friends@friendsofcitypark.com for more information.