The Linden Oak is a large white oak tree in North Bethesda, Maryland, beside the junction of Rockville Pike and Rock Creek Park's Beach Drive. In 1978, a Maryland state agency estimated that it was seeded in 1718.SignificanceAccording to the 2011 National Register of Big Trees a tree in Indiana with a height of and a crown spread of is the largest white oak in the country. At a height of and a crown spread of, when measured in February 2008 by the Maryland Big Tree Program, however, it seems the Linden Oak could replace the national champion.The impressiveness of the great tree is somewhat diminished by the fact that five of its enormous, and lowermost, branches have had to be removed. One of the on-site plaques incorporates a photo of the tree in its former state.The origin of the name "Linden Oak" is unknown.PlaquesThe Linden Oak is acknowledged by three on-site plaques. The first plaque, placed in July 1976 by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission and the Maryland Forest Service, celebrates the "Maryland Bicentennial Tree" for its great age.The second plaque, placed by the Montgomery County Department of Parks (also 1976) celebrates the "Linden Oak" as "the fourth largest of its species in the state of Maryland and the largest in Montgomery County". An age of over 250 years, height of over and crown spread of over are cited.The third plaque, placed by the Montgomery County Department of Park and Planning (no date), honors Idamae Garrott, a local politician and champion of the environment. Owing to her efforts in 1973, the adjacent stretch of the Washington Metro (Red Line) was built in an arc diverting around the tree to avoid disturbing it.
