Quercus geminata, commonly called Sand Live Oak, is an evergreen oak tree that is native to parts of the coastal southeastern United States, along the Atlantic Coast from Miami-Dade County, Florida northward to southeastern Virginia and along the Gulf Coast from Florida northward and westward to southern Mississippi,[3] on seacoast dunes and on white sands in evergreen oak scrubs.[1] The Sand Live Oak is also found in Cuba, where the Cuban Oak, Q. cubana is purported to be a hybrid[4] between the Sand Live Oak and Q. oleoides.[5]
A small- to medium-sized tree, the Sand Live Oak is scrubby and forms thickets. The bark is dark, thick, furrowed, and roughly ridged. The leaves are thick, leathery, and coarsely veined, with extremely revolute margins, giving them the appearance of inverted shallow bowls; their tops dark green, their bottoms dull gray and very tightly tomentose, and their petioles densely pubescent, they are simple and typically flat with bony-opaque margins, having a length of 0.75–4.5 inches (2–12 cm) and a width of 0.2–1.5 inches (0.5–4 cm). The male flowers are green hanging catkins. The acorns are small, 0.5–1 inch (1–2.5 cm), oblong-ellipsoid or ovoid, and are commonly born in pairs on peduncles of varying lengths.[1][2]
In coastal Florida's evergreen oak scrub, the Sand Live Oak is a ubiquitous and abundant species; the threatened Florida Scrub-Jay is found only in Florida scrub.[6][7] Live oaks, having characteristics of the Sand Live Oak and the Southern Live Oak (Q. virginiana), grow further inland. It is believed that these specimens are hybrids of Q. geminata and Q. virginiana.[1] (Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Live_Oak
I have always enjoyed the Sand Live Oaks in our area. This cache is located in a small grove of them along East Beach Boulevard. While you are there, be sure to take a minute to enjoy the beauty of these trees. Sadly, you will also find some debris left over from Hurricane Ivan in 2004. There is a small gravel parking lot nearby. You are looking for a camouflaged pill bottle. Enjoy.
I hope you have enjoyed all the geocaches we have placed in Gulf State Park, along with the rest of your experience here Please consider giving us some feedback here. We would appreciate it if you would include something about your geocaching experience. We hope to show the bosses in Montgomery how many people geocache, in hopes that they will encourage other Parks to invest in it like we have, here at Gulf State Park. Thanks, Dothenumbers.