QUERCUS ALBA (White Oak)

Higher Taxa:

• 1)Class- Magnoliopsida
  
• 2)Subclass- Magnoliales
  
• 3)Order- Fagales
  
• 4)Family- Fagaceae
  
• 5)Genus- Quercus
  

Description: (Cited from North American Trees by Richard J. Preston.)

• HABIT. A medium-sized tree 80-100 feet high and 3-4 feet in diameter (max. 150 by 9 feet); crown rounded, heavy branches.
  
• LEAVES. Deciduous; oblong to obovate; 5-9 inches long; 7-9-lobed (rarely 5-lobed), lobes either broad with shallow sinuses or narrow with deep sinuses extending nearly to the midrib; apex of lobes rounded; thin and firm; bright green and glabr ous above, paler below.
  
• FRUIT. Maturing in first year; sessile or short-stalked; acorn 1/2-3/4 inch long, light brown, oblong, enclosed for about 1/4 its length in bowllike cup with thickened warty scales; kernel sweet.
  
• TWIGS. Rather stout; reddish. Winter buds: terminal 1/8-3/16 inch long; ovoid to globose; obtuse; red-brown; nearly glabrous.
  
• BARK. Light ashy gray; typically irreularly plated with loose plates, but sometimes furrowed with narrow ridges.
  
• WOOD. The most important species of oak; heavy; hard; strong; heartwood light brown, quite durable; used for furniture, cooperage, finish, ties, etc.
  
• SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intermediate in tolerance; rather slow-growing; dry to moist sites; long-lived, attaining ages of 600 years.
  

Authority:

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Location:

Linnaen Herbarium at the Linnean Society of London (CINN).

Holotype & Paratype:

None known.

Distribution and Relative Abundance:

"Sandy plains and gravelly ridges, ridge uplands, intervales, and moist bottom-lands, sometimes formingnearly pure forests; southern Maine to southwestern Quebec, westward through southern Ontario, the southern peninsula of Michigan, southeaste rn Minnesota, eastern Iowa, and southeastern Nebraska, and southward to western Florida, through the Gulf states to the valley of the Brazos river, Texas and through Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky; ascendin g the southern Appalachian Mountains as a low bush to altitudes of 4500[degrees]; most abundant and of its largest size on the lower western slopes of the Alleghany Mountains and on the bottom-lands of the lower Ohio Basin" (Sargent, 1965).

Finding it:

Can be found in the 1-hectare plot at Sam's Farm at aproximately 8' southwest of the 1,30,0 marker (small tree).

References:

• Bailey, L.H. 1960. The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, Vol. 3. The Macmillan Company. pp.2887 & 2888.
  
• Coker, W.C. & H.R. Totten. 1945. Trees of the Southeastern United States. Van Reese Press. New York. pp.156-158.
  
• Dersal, W.R.V. 1938. Native Woody Plants of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington. pp.212.
  
• Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th ed. American Book Company. New York. pp.543.
  
• Gleason, H.A. 1958. New Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora, Vol. 2. Lancaster Press, Inc. Penna. pp.45.
  
• Gleason, H.A. & A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. D. Van Nostrand Company. New York. pp.252.
  
• Hillier. 1992. The Hillier Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 6th ed. David & Charles. Great Britain. pp.351.
  
• Preston, R.J. 1976. North American Trees, 3rd ed. The Iowa State University Press. Iowa. pp.203.
  
• Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles & C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Univ. of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, N.C.
  
• Sargent, C.S. 1965. Manual of the Trees of North America, Vol.1. Dover Publications, Inc. New York. pp.302.
  

Other Related Links:

• White Oak
  
• Virginia Trees (White Oak)
  
• Quercus alba