This gnarled old tree, over five feet in diameter, was believed to be the third or fourth largest chinquapin oak in the world. It lost its top long ago, probably before 1900, and though hollow, it remained alive for many years. Estimates of its age suggested that it may have begun to grow about the time English settlers first arrived at Jamestown, Virginia; it was certainly well established by the time of the American Revolution and very large by the time of the Civil War. Chinquapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii, occurs from New York to Texas and is usually a medium-sized tree found on dry sites, but in the Ohio River basin it commonly grows in richer soils and can develop into a massive tree. Its leaves vary, with large, broad shade leaves in subdued light and smaller, much narrower sun leaves in bright light high in the crowns of dominant trees. The old chinquapin oak died in 2001, and analysis of its annual rings showed that its trunk was about two feet in diameter in 1606; it almost certainly began to grow before Columbus crossed the Atlantic and lived in all or part of at least seven centuries.