FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
"Willow-like" leaves taper at both ends with bristles on tips. Leaves turn brown by mid to late fall.
Description: Medium to large deciduous tree, up to 30 m. May be semi-evergreen in southernmost localities.
Leaves: Alternate, entire, linear or linear-lanceolate with short bristle tips. Leaves typically 9 cm long and less than 2 cm wide, though sometimes larger.
Flowers/Fruit: Flowers are catkins. Yellowish or greenish-brown acorn, about 1 cm long with only the base of nut enclosed by cup. Flowers March to May; acorns mature from September to November of following year.
Habit and Range: Brownwater floodplains, forested wetlands, floodplain pools, and depression wetlands in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont. Can occur in blackwater floodplains. Widely planted in landscaping.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Quercus laurifolia (laurel oak) has more diamond-shaped leaves than Q. phellos (willow oak) and generally without bristles on the tips. Q. nigra (water oak) leaves are much wider near the tips.
Click here to view Quercus laurifolia.
Click here to view Quercus nigra.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
