QUERCUS NIGRA (Water 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 50-70 feet high and 2-3 feet in diameter (max. 125 by 6 feet); rounded, even crown.
  
• LEAVES. Deciduous; though tardily so, as many remain green until late winter; extremely variable in shape, size, margin; commonly spatulate, also obovate to narrow-oblong; margin entire to shallowly 3-lobed at apex to deeply 5-7-lobed; 2-6 inc hes lon; dull blue-green above, paler below; mostly glabrous.
  
• FRUIT. Maturing in 2 years; sessile or nearly so; acorn 1/3-2/3 inch long, nearly black, subglobose; enclosed at base by shallow cup with thin,hairy scales; kernel bitter, bright orange..
  
• TWIGS. Slender; red-brown; glabrous. Winter buds: terminal 1/8-1/4 inch long; angled; sharp; loose, red-brown;, hairy scales.
  
• BARK. Rather thin; gray-black; broken by shallow furrows into wide, scaly ridges; smooth when young.
  
• WOOD. Moderately important. Less strong and durable than Q. alba.
  
• SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Moderately intolerant; moist to wet sites; reproduces aggressively; sprouts vigorously; common ornamental.
  

Authority:

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Location:

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

Holotype & Paratype:

None known.

Distribution and Relative Abundance:

"High sandy borders of swamps and streams and the rich bottom-lands of rivers, or northward sometimes in dry woods; southern delaware, southward to the shores of the Indian River and tampa Bay, Florida, ranging inland in the south Atlantic states throug h the Piedmont region, and westward through the Gulf states to the valley of the Colorado River, Texas, and through eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas to southeastern Missouri and to central Tennessee and Kentucky. . . . The Water Oak is commonly planted as a shade tree in the streets and squares of the cities and towns of the southern states" (Sargent, 1965).

Finding it:

Can be found in the 1-hectare plot at Sam's Farm at aproximately 4' south of the 1,30,0 marker (small tree).

References:

• Coker, W.C. & H.R. Totten. 1945. Trees of the Southeastern United States. Van Reese Press. New York. pp.130 & 131.
  
• Dersal, W.R.V. 1938. Native Woody Plants of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington. pp.219.
  
• Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th ed. American Book Company. New York. pp.549.
  
• 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.260 & 261.
  

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