Our Coast Live Oaks, Quercus agrifolia, have the ability to produce “second growth”, regrowing from a damaged but living root structure. Whether by wind, fire or chainsaw, when a Live Oak is damaged there may be multiple new shoots that take over photosynthesizing. Sometimes these stems will be structured in a way that is stable and mutually supportive, other times the juncture between these stems can be unsound, diseased and ultimately fail and lead to collapse. In some cases the tree will continue living after it split and fell (images at bottom). Click image for larger versions
