General Description | Well adapted for long term survival, strong wood typical of white oak group, thick bark, deep roots and unusually large acorns. This species has been placed on the IUCN Red List as least concern.
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ID Characteristic | Bark on lower trunks have thick, vertical flattened ridges. The tree often stands alone in fields in the wild, displaying its massive trunk and huge spreading limbs from a distance. |
Shape | Upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming rounded, spreading and massive with age. |
Propagation | Seed is recalcitrant so no treatment is required, 30-60 days at 5°C in moist sand or peat is suggested.
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Cultivation | Adoptable to most types of soils, difficult to transplant, tolerant of city conditions and a great ornamental tree.
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Pests | No serious diseases, but oak wilt could possibly be an occasional major concern.
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Notable Specimens | Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens, Niagara Falls, Ontario. |
Habitat | Grows slowly on dry uplands and sandy plains, but is also found on fertile moist limestone soils. |
Bark/Stem Description | Rough, deep ridged and furrowed character, usually dark gray to gray brown in colour.
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Flower/Leaf Bud Description | Glabrous, 2-5 mm in length. |
Leaf Description | Alternate, simple obovate to oblong–obovate, dark green upper surface, greyish or white beneath, 5-9 lobes a cuneate base and 4-5 secondary veins on either side of the midvein, 10-115 x 5-13 cm. Petiole 3cm long.
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Flower Description | Yellow-brown pendulous male catkins are obvious and prominent in late April, but are ornamentally insignificant as they are very small pistillate flowers. Terminal flower buds.
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Fruit Description | Nut, solitary, unusually stalked, 2-6cm long, matures in a single season.
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Colour Description | Dull green through most of the seasons, in autumn turning a dull brown. |
Texture Description | Coarse all season long
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