FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Leaves commonly pear-shaped but vary considerably. May be tardily deciduous.
Synonym(s): Quercus microcarya
Description: Medium-sized tree, up to 25 m. Although deciduous, leaves are slow to fall, remaining into winter.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, club-shaped or 3-lobed but highly variable. Leaves widest toward the tip, obovate in general outline and about 10 cm long.
Flowers/Fruit: Flowers are catkins. Dark, oval acorns are about 1 cm wide and only a third covered by the saucer-like cup. Inside, cup is shiny-pubescent. Flowers in April; acorns mature September to November of following year.
Habit and Range: Bottomlands, brownwater floodplains and occasionally blackwater floodplains, moist soils, and wet flats, in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont. Occasionally found in the easternmost Mountains.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Quercus phellos (willow oak) has similar leaves that are narrower, with bristles on the tips.
Click here to view Quercus phellos.
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