Texas Trivia (Comanche, Quanah, Parker: food, horses, rain)

[CptnRn]

You are never to old to learn something new TexasReb. What would you say to a student who insisted on doing all his tests from memory and prior knowledge, and refused to read text books or look anything up? In my opinion part of the joy of learning is the search, discovery and joy of acquiring new knowledge.

Yes, East Texas, you are getting warmer.

Big Tree is the oldest live oak in Texas, but the oldest tree is a Cypress.

The "Big Tree", one of the most famous live oaks in the world, was named State Champion Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in 1969. It is thought to be one of the largest in the United States. The Texas Forest Service estimates the tree to be over 1,000 years old. The Big Tree is a charter member of the Live Oak Society of America, and has been the subject of one of Ripley's "Believe It or Not" cartoons.

The Big Tree is Texas' largest and quite possibly oldest Live Oak tree and is found on the Lamar Peninsula of Aransas County in the Goose Island State Park. It possesses a circumference of over 35 feet, is more than 45 feet tall and has a crown spread of 90 feet. Some call it the "Largest Live Oak in the World"

Great big photo of "Big Tree" http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...2/Big_tree.jpg

One website claims the following, but it is not true according to other authorities.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
A coastal live oak located near Fulton is the oldest tree in the state. The tree has an estimated age of more than 1,500 years.

Question: Where is the oldest tree in Texas, how old is it and what is it called?

Hint #1: Cypress

Hint #2: Shangri La

Hint #3: Somewhere in East Texas

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

You are never to old to learn something new TexasReb. What would you say to a student who insisted on doing all his tests from memory and prior knowledge, and refused to read text books or look anything up? In my opinion part of the joy of learning is the search, discovery and joy of acquiring new knowledge.

*blusters and flusters* You think you got me there, don't you? As it is...hell, yeah, I gotta admit you DO! LOL

I owe you big time, buddy...

Awrighty....lemme figure the correct way to go with this question....

[TexasReb]

Question: Where is the oldest tree in Texas, how old is it and what is it called?

Hint #1: Cypress

Hint #2: Shangri La

Hint #3: Somewhere in East Texas

I am going to stick to my guns for the moment, and ask if the Shangi-la hint has anything to do with the song by the Four Coins...?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

I am going to stick to my guns for the moment, and ask if the Shangi-la hint has anything to do with the song by the Four Coins...?

Not that I'm aware of. But I respect your stubbornness. It is sometimes a virtue. I respect a man of principal, most of the time.

OK Final hint: Let me google that for you First person to post the correct answer gets to ask the next question.

Question: Where is the oldest tree in Texas, how old is it and what is it called?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Not that I'm aware of. But I respect your stubbornness. It is sometimes a virtue. I respect a man of principal, most of the time.

OK Final hint: Let me google that for you First person to post the correct answer gets to ask the next question.

Question: Where is the oldest tree in Texas, how old is it and what is it called?

It is in East Texas and it is called "The Old Texas Tree" and there is no telling how old it is. It is just OLD, dammit.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

It is in East Texas and it is called "The Oldest Tree in Texas" and there is no telling how old it is. It is just OLD, dammit.

Ha Ha, Part of that answer is correct, it is in East Texas, I wonder how you figured that part out? I will have to give it to you just for bull headedness if nothing else. Plus no one else seems interested in trying to answer this one, they are probably feeling sorry for you.

Besides the pizza is here and I have to go for supper.

Your turn TexasReb

The oldest tree in Texas is at the Shangri La Botanical Gardens, Orange, Texas, It is extimated at over 1,200 years of age and it has been named "The Survior".


http://blueeyesandbluebonnets.com/2009/04/shangri-la-gardens-part1 (broken link)

Shangri La Botanical Gardens, Orange Texas - What is it? (http://www.shangrilagardens.org/About-Shangri-La/Nature-Center/The-Survivor-Tree-(1).aspx - broken link)
Oldest tree in Texas

The Survivor is a Pond Cypress tree situated within Shangri La. For at least 1,200 years, this old tree has been nurtured by the waters of Adams Bayou, which flows through the middle of Orange. This resilient tree, not normally found in Texas, has "survived" centuries of diseases, axes and storms, including the most recent devastation from Hurricane Rita in 2005. Most Pond Cypress trees are found along the eastern coast of the U.S., as far west as New Orleans, and they are closely related to the Redwoods of California.
Dr. Ira Nelson, of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, previously determined The Survivor was approximately 1,200 years old by counting the growth rings of a core sample. This makes Shangri La’s tree older than the state of Texas, the United States of America, Christopher Columbus, and even famous historical figures like Shakespeare and Galileo. The Survivor received its distinctive name in 1998, when Shangri La’s Nature Classroom hosted a school contest to name the special tree. In 1998 and again in 2003, it was certified as a Champion Tree through The Texas Big Tree Registry.
Today, visitors are able to see The Survivor up close as they travel via boat down Adams Bayou.

http://www.shangrilagardens.org/getattachment/ecf57e33-48de-4ea6-82fb-39fd1e492649/The-Survivor-Tree-(1).aspx (broken link)

http://www.shangrilagardens.org/getattachment/2cc2a756-791a-4ba8-ab76-8a5a3647c7eb/The-Survivor-Tree-(1).aspx (broken link)

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Ha Ha, Part of that answer is correct, it is in East Texas, I wonder how you figured that part out? I will have to give it to you just for bull headedness if nothing else. Plus no one else seems interested in trying to answer this one, they are probably feeling sorry for you.

LOL Thanks, ol' bud.

And THANKS for that info and that pic! There needs be an armed guard around that treasure of a tree!

There should be a sign hanging on the fence that says something like: "NO TRESPASSING. DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED"

*AHEM* Here is my question:

What is the REAL name for what, in Texas, are often called "red ants"?

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

What is the REAL name for what, in Texas, are often called "red ants"?

Several possible answers:

1. Solenopsis wagneri. Also called 'fire ants', they were first introduced from Brazil in the 1930s, in cargo unloaded in Mobile, Alabama.

2. Progreso High School football players. (Red Ants is the school team nickname and mascot.)

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Several possible answers:

1. Solenopsis wagneri. Also called 'fire ants', they were first introduced from Brazil in the 1930s, in cargo unloaded in Mobile, Alabama.

2. Progreso High School football players. (Red Ants is the school team nickname and mascot.)

LOL I guess the second answer would be technically correct!

Seriously though, the first is a common answer that makes a lot of sense, but not the correct one. Actually, "fire ant's" are small and not really red. I am talking about those "red ants" that are fairly large and mostly found in the western half of Texas. They have squarish type heads and their colonies are noted for the way tiny "stones" surround them. No mound at all. In Texas they are commonly called "red ants", even though that is not their real "scientific" name.

Good guess though!

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

LOL I guess the second answer would be technically correct!

Seriously though, the first is a common answer that makes a lot of sense, but not the correct one. Actually, "fire ant's" are small and not really red. I am talking about those "red ants" that are fairly large and mostly found in the western half of Texas. They have squarish type heads and their colonies are noted for the way tiny "stones" surround them. No mound at all. In Texas they are commonly called "red ants", even though that is not their real "scientific" name.

Good guess though!

I know whih ones you are talking about but I have no idea what they are called.