The living history of Washington's Puget Sound region can be found in the lustrous leaves and rugged branches of surviving Oregon white oaks.

The trees once dominated prairies in the southern part of the region and still loom over some of its urban neighborhoods.

Oregon white oaks can live 500 years or more, given the right circumstances. So it’s possible that some of the South Sound’s larger specimens sprouted before explorers such as Lt. Charles Wilkes entered Puget Sound in 1840.

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