'The Big Tree' Still Stands In Texas

The Big Tree is a 1,000-year-old oak tree at Goose Island State Park near Rockport, Texas. It survived the recent hurricane, and many before it.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Big Tree still stands tall after Hurricane Harvey. The Big Tree is a thousand-year-old live oak tree at Goose Island State Park near Rockport, Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife posted a photo of The Big Tree on its Facebook page this week noting, some younger trees are down. You don't get old by being weak.

Texas Monthly says The Big Tree has survived at least 40 hurricanes as well as floods, fires, fierce winds and a 2011 drought so wicked that firefighters had to drench it with thousands of gallons of water. The Big Tree looks splendid and gnarly after the week's storm with its diameter of 11 feet and circumference of more than 35 feet. David Apple, a plant pathologist at Texas A&M University, told Popular Science, live oaks are near and dear to the hearts of Texas. They represent a feeling of endurance. And this week, Texans were live oaks all over the storm path.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.