Oak Trees | New England

Quercus ilicifolia, commonly known as bear oak or scrub oak, is a small shrubby oak native to the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada.

This oak is a deciduous tree or shrub growing up to 6 to 8 meters tall. It is "gangly" and can form a dense thicket. The plant grows from a large taproot which can be up to 20 centimeters thick. The taproot lives a long time, producing several generations of aboveground parts. The alternately arranged leaves are each up to 15 centimeters long by 10 wide. Also called bear oak, reportedly because only bears consume the bitter acorns. This hardy specie is among the first to recolonize dry sites that have been repeatedly cut-over or burned. Thus, it is a valuable early-successional tree that stabilizes and shades bare soils. Recommended also as an ornenmental tree for a narrow environment in your backyard.

The black oak is an oak in the red oak (Quercus sect. Lobatae) group of oaks. It is native to eastern North America from southern Ontario south to northern Florida.  It is a close relative of the western black oak (Quercus kelloggii) found in western North America. In the northern part of its range, black oak is a relatively small tree, reaching a height of 20–25 m (65–80 ft) and a diameter of 90 cm (35 in), but it grows larger in the south and center of its range, where heights of up to 42 m (140 ft) are known. Black oak is well known to readily hybridize with other members of the red oak (Quercus sect. Lobatae) group of oaks being one parent in at least a dozen different named hybrids. Black oak is classed as intermediate in tolerance to shade. In the north east of America, black oak grows on cool, moist soils. Elsewhere it occurs on warm, moist soils. In forest stands, black oak begins to produce seeds at about age 20 and reaches optimum production at 40 to 75 years. It is a consistent seed producer with good crops of acorns every 2 to 3 years.

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The Bur oak, is a specie of oak in the white oak section Quercus sect. Quercus, native to North America in the eastern and midwestern United States and south-central Canada. This plant is also called Mossycup oak and Mossycup white oak.

It is a large deciduous tree growing up to 30 m (100 ft), rarely 40 m (130 ft), in height, and is one of the most massive oaks with a trunk diameter up to 3 m (10 ft); reports of taller trees occur, but have not been verified. It is a medium grower oak, with a growth rate of 35 cm (1 ft) per year when young. A 20-year-old tree will be about 6 m (20 ft) tall. It commonly lives to be 200 to 300 years old, and may live up to 400 years. The bark is a medium gray and somewhat rugged.

The acorns are very large (probably the largest or the oak group), 2–5 cm (0.8–2 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.8-1.5 in) broad, having a large cup that wraps much of the way around the nut, with large overlapping scales and often a fringe at the edge of the cup. Bur oak is sometimes confused with Overcup oak and White oak, both of which it occasionally hybridizes with. Bur oak is cultivated by plant nurseries for use in gardens, parks, and as a street tree. Bur oak makes an outstanding ornamental tree. Among the white oaks, it is one of the most tolerant of urban conditions, and is one of the fastest-growing of the group. It has been planted in many climates.

The chestnut oak, a beautiful and ornemental specie in the white oak group, Quercus sect. quercus. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in southern Michigan. It is sometimes called "rock oak" because of montane and other rocky habitats. As a consequence of its dry habitat and ridgetop exposure, it is not usually a large tree, typically 18–22m (60–70 ft) tall; occasional specimens growing in better conditions can however become large, with trees up to 40–43 m (130–140 ft) tall known. They tend to have a similar spread of 18–22m (60–70 ft).

The chestnut oak is readily identified by its massively-ridged dark gray-brown bark, the thickest of any eastern North American oak. The leaves are 12–20 cm long and 6–10 cm broad, shallowly lobed with 10–15 rounded lobes on each margin; they are virtually identical to the leaves of swamp chestnut oak and chinkapin oak, but the trees can readily be distinguished by the bark, the chinkapin oak being a light ash-gray and somewhat peeling like the white oak and swamp chestnut oak being paler ash-gray and scaly. The acorns of the chestnut oak are 1.5–3 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, among the largest of native American oaks, surpassed in size only by the bur oak and possibly swamp chestnut oak. Chestnut oak trees are generally not the best timber trees because they are usually branched low and not very straight, but when they grow in better conditions, they are valuable for timber, which is marketed as 'mixed white oak.

The chinkapin oak (or chinquapin oak), is an oak in the white oak group. The specie was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii, is native to eastern and central North America. We can find a small population in southwest Ontario. This is a medium or large tree reaching a height of 70 feet and a trunk to 3 feet in diameter, with a rounded crown of glossy, green foliage. It is also planted widely as a shade tree, suitable for limestone soils. The specie produces an acorn, requiring just one season to mature, 0.5" to 1.25" long, light to dark brown when ripe, enclosed by one-half its length by the bowl-shaped cup. The acorns of this specie are probably the sweetest of all oak acorns for having ever tried. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, durable, and taking an excellent polish; used for barrels, fencing, crossties, fuel, and occasionally for furniture. This is an excellent ornamental tree in southeastern part of Canada for zone 4b to 6b.

Quercus prinoides, commonly known as dwarf chinkapin oak, dwarf chestnut oak or scrub chestnut oak, is a shrubby, clone-forming oak native to eastern and central North America, ranging from New Hampshire to the Carolinian forest zone of southern Ontario to eastern Nebraska, south to Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. It has a virtually disjunct (discontinuous) distribution, fairly common in New England and in the Appalachian Mountains, and also in the eastern Great Plains but rare in the Ohio Valley. The epithet prinoides refers to its resemblance to Quercus prinus, the chestnut oak.

However, this shrubby oak, now generally accepted as a distinct species, is more closely related to chinkapin oak (Quercus muhlenbergii) than to chestnut oak. These two kinds of oak have sometimes been considered to be conspecific (belonging to the same species), in which case the earlier-published name Q. prinoides has priority, with the larger chinkapin oak then usually classified as Quercus prinoides var. acuminata, and the shrubby form as Q. prinoides var. prinoides.

The dwarf chinkapin oak is a shrub or small tree that typically only grows to 13–20 feet (4–6 meters) tall and 13–20 feet (4–6 meters) wide. It sometimes spreads vegetatively by means of underground rhizomes. The leaves of dwarf chinkapin oak closely resemble those of chinkapin oak, although they are smaller: 2-6 inches (5–15 cm) long, compared to 4-7 inches (10–18 cm) long for chinkapin oak. The acorns are 1/2 to 1 inches (15–25 mm) long, with the cup enclosing about half of the acorn.

While similar in foliage and fruits, but with smaller leaves, the dwarf chinkapin oak may also be distinguished from the chinkapin oak by differences in growth habit (the clonally spreading shrubby growth form and smaller proportions of dwarf chinkapin oak, even when grown on rich soils) and habitat (the chinkapin oak is typically found on rocky, calcareous sites, while the dwarf chinkapin oak is more typically found on dry, often acidic, sandy soils or dry shales).

source: Wikipedia

Zone 4b

These unusual and attractive trees, also called upright English oak trees, were first found growing wild in a forest in Germany. These types of columnar oaks were propagated by grafting. Columnar oak tree growth is moderately slow and the trees grow up, not out. With these trees, you don’t have to worry about the spreading lateral branches you associate with other oaks. Columnar oak trees might grow to 60 feet tall, but the spread will remain about 15 feet. The dark green leaves turn brown or yellow in autumn and remain on the tree for months before they fall in winter. The trunk of the columnar oak is covered in dark brown bark, deeply ridged and very attractive. The tree has small acorns hanging on the branches most of the winter that attract squirrels.

Columnar Oak Information: These ‘fastigata’ types of columnar oaks are easy-care trees with outstanding ornamental qualities. Because the columnar oak tree growth direction is up, not out, they are useful in areas where you don’t have room for wide trees; the crown of the columnar oak remains tight and no branches break out of the crown and wander out from the trunk.

Ideal columnar oak tree growth conditions include a sunny location. Plant these oaks in direct sun on well-drained acidic or slightly alkaline soil. They are extremely adaptable and very tolerant of urban conditions. They also tolerate drought and aerosol salt.

Caring for Columnar Oak Trees: You will find that caring for columnar oak trees is not difficult. The trees tolerate drought, but do best with occasional irrigation.

English oak is a majestic tree with a very wide spreading crown, a short sturdy trunk, and deeply fissured gray brown bark. It can grow up to 140 ft (40 m) tall with a rounded spread of 80 ft (24 m) or more, but is usually smaller in cultivation. English oak has small deciduous leaves, 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) long, with 3-7 pairs of rounded lobes, and extremely short petioles (leaf stems). They remain deep green long into autumn before turning brown and then persisting on the tree well into winter. The typical oak flowers are hanging catkins which appear with the emerging leaves in early spring. The acorns are elongate, about 1 in (2.5 cm) long, with a cup that covers 1/3 of the nut. They are borne singly or in clusters of 2-5 which dangle on a single long 1-4 in (5.1-10.2 cm) peduncle. Recommended for plantation in parks, streets and also for windbreak. Suitable for zone 4b

Quercus mongolica, commonly called Mongolian oak, is a medium to large deciduous tree with an open crown that typically grows to 30-60’ tall, but sometimes soars to 90’ tall. It is native to forested areas in Japan, southern Kariles, Sakhalin, Manchuria, central and northern China, Korea, eastern Mongolia and eastern Russia (Siberia). Tapered obovate to obovate-oblong leaves (to 4-8” long) with 7-10 broad coarse teeth on each side, pointed apices, and ariculate bases (two tiny ear-like lobes) are borne in dense clusters at the branch ends. Leaves are glabrous and dark green above but lighter green below with pubescent veins. Rose fall color. Ornamentally insignificant monoecious flowers (reddish females in clusters and yellowish-green males in dangling catkins) bloom in May-June. Female flowers are followed by small ovoid acorns (each to 7/8” long). Each acorn is enclosed within a scaly, thick-walled cup which covers about 1/3 to 1/2 of the acorn. Acorns ripen in September-October. Tolerate: Drought, Clay Soil, Dry Soil. Hardy to zone 5

Quercus ellipsoidalis, northern pin oak or Hill's oak, is a North American species of trees native to the north-central United States and south-central Canada, primarily in the Great Lakes region and the Upper Mississippi Valley. It occurs on moist, clay soils. It is hardy to canadian zone 4b-5a

Although the common name suggests an resemblance to the pin oak (Q. palustris), Q. ellipsoidalis has traditionally been thought to be closely related to the scarlet oak (Q. coccinea), and was in fact included in that species by many botanists. Recent work suggests that there is more gene flow between Hill's oak and black oak Q. velutina, but the phylogenetic position of these species is still uncertain. The morphological similarity between Q. ellipsoidalis and Q. coccinea remains a source of confusion, especially in northwestern Indiana and southern Cook County, Illinois.

Quercus ellipsoidalis is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20 meters (67 feet) tall with an open, rounded crown. The leaves are glossy green, 7-13 cm (2.8-5.2 inches) long and 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) broad, lobed, with five or seven lobes, and deep sinuses between the lobes. Each lobe has 3-7 bristle-tipped teeth. The leaf is nearly hairless, except for small tufts of pale orange-brown down where the lobe veins join the central vein. The acorns tend to be ellipsoid (ellipse-shaped, from which its scientific name derives), though they tend to be highly variable and range to globose, 6-11 mm long and 10-19 mm broad, a third to a half covered in a deep cup, green maturing pale brown about 18 months after pollination; the kernel is very bitter. The inner surface of the acorn cap is glabrous (hairless) to sparsely or moderately pubescent, and the hairs if present tend to be kinky rather than straight.

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An oak that loves water!

Quercus palustris, the pin oak is an oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. Pin Oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oak in its native range due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance. Its distinctive shape is considered unique among hardwoods. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 18–22 metres (59–72 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) diameter. It has an 8–14-metre (26–46 ft) spread. A 10-year-old tree will be about 8 metres (26 ft) tall. Young trees have a straight, columnar trunk with smooth bark and a pyramidal canopy. By the time the tree is 40 years old, it develops more rough bark with a loose, spreading canopy. This canopy is considered one of the most distinctive features of the pin oak: the upper branches point upwards, the middle branches are perpendicular to trunk, and the lower branches drop downards.

A fast-growing pioneer or riparian species, pin oak is relatively short-lived, with a maximum lifespan of 120 years against many oaks which can live several centuries. It is naturally a wetland tree, and develops a shallow, fibrous root system, unlike many oaks, which have a strong, deep taproot when young. It is confined to acidic soils, and does not tolerate limestone or sandy Florida soil, and grows at low altitudes from sea level. A characteristic shared by a few other oak species, and also some beeches and hornbeams, is the retention of leaves through the winter on juvenile trees, a natural phenomenon referred to as marcescence. Young trees under 6 metres (20 ft) will often be covered with leaves year-round, though the leaves die in the fall, remaining attached to the shoots until the new leaves appear in the spring. As with many other oak species, dead pin oak branches will stay on the tree for many years. In its native range, Pin Oak is the most commonly used landscaping oak along with Northern Red Oak due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance. The wood is generally marketed as red oak, but is of significantly inferior quality, being somewhat weaker, often with many small knots. The wood is hard and heavy and is used in general construction and for firewood. Suitable for zone 4a-4b.

Quercus stellata (post oak) is an oak in the white oak section. It is a small tree, typically 10–15 m tall and 30–60 cm trunk diameter, though occasional specimens reach 30 m tall and 140 cm diameter. It is native to the eastern United States, from Connecticut in the northeast, west to southern Iowa, southwest to central Texas, and southeast to northern Florida. It is one of the most common oaks in the southern part of the eastern prairies.

The leaves have a very distinctive shape, with three perpendicular terminal lobes, shaped much like a Maltese Cross. They are leathery, and tomentose (densely short-hairy) beneath. The branching pattern of this tree often gives it a rugged appearance. The acorns are 1.5–2 cm long, and are mature in their first summer.

The name refers to the use of the wood of this tree for fence posts. Its wood, like that of the other white oaks, is hard, tough and rot-resistant. This tree tends to be smaller than most other members of the group, with lower, more diffuse branching, largely reflecting its tendency to grow in the open on poor sites, so its wood is of relatively low value as sawn lumber. Suitable for zone 5a.

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Quercus rubra, commonly called northern red oak, (syn. Quercus borealis), is an oak in the red oak group (Quercus section Lobatae). It is a native of North America, in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada.

In many forests, this deciduous tree grows straight and tall, to 28 m (90 ft), exceptionally to 43 m (140 ft) tall, with a trunk of up to 50–100 cm (20–40 in) diameter. Open-grown trees do not get as tall, but can develop a stouter trunk, up to 2 m (6 ft) in diameter. It has stout branches growing at right angles to the stem, forming a narrow round-topped head. It grows rapidly and is tolerant to many soils and varied situations, although it prefers the glacial drift and well-drain soil. Under optimal conditions, northern red oak is fast growing and a 10-year-old tree can be 5–6 m (15–20 ft) tall. Trees may live up to 500 years. It is frequently a part of the canopy in an oak-heath forest, but generally not as important as some other oaks.  The northern red oak is one of the most important oaks for timber production in North America. Quality red oak is of high value as lumber and veneer, while defective logs are used as firewood. Other related oaks are also cut and marketed as red oak, although their wood is not always of as high in quality. These include eastern black oak, scarlet oak, pin oak, Shumard oak, southern red oak and other species in the red oak group. Construction uses include flooring, veneer, interior trim, and furniture. It is also used for lumber, railroad ties, and fence posts. Q. rubra is grown in parks and large gardens as a specimen tree and is suitable for zone 3b.

The sawtooth oak, is an oak originally native to eastern Asia, in China, Korea and Japan. It is now also present in North America. It is closely related to the turkey oak, classified with it in Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that mature in about 18 months. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 25–30 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m diameter. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. The leaves are 8–20 cm long and 3–6 cm wide, with 14-20 small saw-tooth like triangular lobes on each side, with the teeth of very regular shape.

Sawtooth oak is widely planted in eastern North America and is naturalised in some areas; it is also occasionally planted in Europe but has not naturalised there. Most planting in North America was carried out for wildlife food provision, as the specie tends to bear heavier crops of acorns than other native American oak species; however the bitterness of the acorns makes it less suitable for this purpose and sawtooth oak is becoming a problem invasive species in some areas and states, such as Wisconsin. Sawtooth oak trees also grow at a faster rate which helps it compete against other native trees. The wood has many of the characteristics of other oaks, but is very prone to crack and split and hence is relegated to such uses as fencing. Suitable for zone 5a-5b minimum

Suitable for zone 4a.

Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is an oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. The scarlet oak can be mistaken for the pin oak, the black oak, or occasionally the red oak. On scarlet oak the sinuses between lobes are "C"-shaped in comparison to pin oak (Q. palustris), which has "U"-shaped sinuses and the acorns are half covered by a deep cap.

Scarlet oak is mainly native to the eastern United States, from southern Maine west to eastern Oklahoma, and south to southern Alabama. It is also native in the extreme south of Ontario, Canada. It occurs on dry, sandy, usually acidic soils. It is often an important canopy specie in an oak-health forest. Q. coccinea is a medium-large deciduous tree growing to 20–30 m tall with an open, rounded crown. The leaves are glossy green, 7–17 cm long and 8–13 cm broad, lobed, with seven lobes, and deep sinuses between the lobes. The common English name is derived from the autumnal coloration of the foliage, which generally becomes bright scarlet; in contrast, pin oak foliage generally turns bronze in autumn. The acorns are ovoid, 7–13 mm broad and 17–31 mm long, a third to a half covered in a deep cup, green maturing pale brown about 18 months after pollination; the kernel is very bitter. Scarlet oak is often planted as an ornamental tree, popular for its bright red fall color. The wood is generally marketed as red oak, but is of inferior quality, being somewhat weaker and not forming as large a tree.

Quercus imbricaria, the shingle oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak group. It is native primarily to the Midwestern and upper South regions of North America, from southern New York west to northern Illinois and eastern Kansas, and south to central Alabama and Arkansas. It is a medium-sized tree growing to 20 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. It is distinguished from most other oaks by its leaves, which are shaped like laurel leaves, 8-20 cm long and 1.5-7.5 cm broad with an entire margin; they are bright green above, paler and somewhat downy beneath. Acorns: Ripen in autumn of second year; stalked, solitary or in pairs; nut almost spherical, one-half to two-thirds inch long. The leafs turns bright red-orange and become deep red in automn. Suitable for zone 4b.

Quercus shumardii, the Shumard oak, spotted oak, Schneck oak, Shumard red oak, or swamp red oak, is one of the largest of the oak species in the red oak group (Quercus section Lobatae). It is closely related to Texas red oak (Quercus buckleyi), Nuttall's oak (Quercus texana), and Chisos red oak (Quercus gravesii). Shumard oak is native to the Atlantic Coastal Plain primarily from North Carolina to northern Florida and west to central Texas; it is also found north in the Mississippi River Valley to central Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana, western and southern Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is found locally north to southern Michigan, southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, western New York, and the extreme south of Ontario, Canada. Suitable for canadian zone 5a-5b

Mature Shumard oak typically reach heights of 25 to 35 meters (82 to 115 ft), trunk diameter is typically 60 to 100 centimeters (24 to 39 in), and crown width typically reaches 12 to 18 meters (39 to 59 ft) in width. Typical size varies according to region, with larger specimens occurring in the southern portions of its native range in the United States. Record Shumard oaks have been measured at up to 42 meters (138 ft) tall, with crowns up to 27.5 meters (90 ft) in width. Young specimens generally exhibit conic or ovate crowns, with the upper crown filling in as the tree reaches maturity. Trunks are relatively straight and vertical. Trunks may have deeply fluted buttresses near the ground. Shumard oak is typically found in lowland areas and is able to survive where the soils experience flooding for six weeks of the year. The young bark of the Shumard oak is light grey, very smooth, and very reflective. Shumard oak bark darkens and develops ridges and furrows as it ages. There are occasionally white splotches on the bark. Shumard oak twigs terminate in a cluster of buds. The buds are lighter in color than the olive-green twigs. The young twig is highly reflective.

The leaves are arranged alternately and are broadly obovate with 5–9 lobes, each of which are terminated by bristle tipped teeth. The leaves mature to between 10 to 21 centimeters (4 to 8 in) in length. The surfaces are glabrous, except for the tufted vein axils. They are dark green on the top, while the bottom is a slightly lighter shade of green. The leaves turn brown to red in the fall, and sometime have hues of yellow mixed in. Fall colors are relatively late. Shumard oak bears relatively large acorns, which typically reach up to 3 centimeters (1 in) in diameter. Acorns take between 1.5 and 3 years to fully mature, and may go unnoticed during their early stages of development. The acorns of the Shumard oak provide food for various songbirds, game birds such as wild turkey and quail, waterfowl, white-tail deer, feral hogs, and various rodents such as squirrels. The leaves and twigs can also provide browse for white-tail deer. Oak wilt can attack all red oaks, including the Shumard oak. Other diseases that attack Shumard oaks are various fungi that can grow on the leaves, powdery mildew, canker diseases, and shoestring root.

zone 4b

Shumard oak is valued for commercial use, as a shade tree, and as a food source for various birds and mammals. It is cultivated at least as far north as Ottawa, Ontario and as far south as Lake Worth, Florida. It is tolerant of wide ranges of pH levels in soil. It is drought-resistant, and prefers partial to full sunlight. Shumard oaks begin to bear seeds at a minimum of 25 years of age, and the optimum age for seed development is 50 years of age. Shumard oaks are known to have reached at least 480 years of age. The roots are intolerant to disturbance, so the tree should be planted in its permanent position at an early age. Shumard oak lumber is grouped with other red oak lumber for use in flooring, furniture, interior trim, decorative molding, paneling, and cabinetry. The lumber of Shumard oak is considered "mechanically superior" to that of other red oaks.

Quercus michauxii, the swamp chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus section Quercus in the beech family. It is native to bottomlands and wetlands in the eastern and central United States, in coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland primarily in the Mississippi/Ohio Valley as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The swamp chestnut oak closely resembles the chestnut oak Quercus prinus, and for that reason has sometimes been treated as a variety of that species. However, the swamp chestnut oak is a larger tree which differs in preferred habitat, and the bark does not have the distinctive deep, rugged ridging of the chestnut oak, being thinner, scaly, and paler gray. It typically grows to around 65 feet (20 meters) tall, though the tallest specimen currently known is over 150 feet (42 meters) tall. The tree is suitablke for canadian zone 4b-5a

The name Q. prinus was long used by many botanists and foresters for the swamp chestnut oak, even when treated as a species distinct from the chestnut oak, which was then called Q. montana, but the application of the name Q. prinus to the chestnut oak is now often accepted, although sometimes that name is declared to be of uncertain position, unassignable to either species, with the chestnut oak then called Q. montana, as in the Flora of North America. The leaves of the swamp chestnut oak are simple (not compound), 4-11 in (10–28 cm) long and 2-7 in (5–18 cm) broad, with 15-20 lobe-like, rounded simple teeth on each side, similar to those of chestnut oak and chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), although they generally do not achieve the more slender form that the leaves of those trees may exhibit at times. The fruit is an acorn 1-1½ in (2.5-3.5 cm) long and ¾-1 in (2-2.5) cm broad, borne on a ¾-1¼ nin (2–3 cm) peduncle, maturing in the fall, about 6 months after pollination.

The wood of the swamp chestnut oak is similar to, and usually marketed mixed with, that of other white oaks.The swamp chestnut oak's bark can be sliced into flexible strips suitable for basket weaving,[citation needed] and for this reason the species is sometimes called the "basket oak". The swamp chestnut oak's acorns are large and relatively sweet.They are readily eaten by livestock, and the species is sometimes called the "cow oak" for this reason. However, swamp chestnut oaks bear heavy crops of acorns only at intervals of several years.Acorns in general are potentially fatal if eaten by horses. The swamp chestnut oak is sometimes cultivated as a large garden tree or street tree, and is quite easy to grow if it is not subject to extreme urban conditions.

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The swamp white oak, is a medium-sized tree of America's north central and northeastern mixed forests. It has a very large range, and can survive in a variety of habitats including wet soil. It is not found where flooding is permanent, although it is usually found in broad stream valleys, low-lying fields, and the margins of lakes, ponds, or sloughs. It grows rapidly and can reach 300 to 350 years. It is not a large tree, typically growing to 20-25m.

It is one of the more important white oaks for lumber production. In recent years, the swamp white oak has become a popular landscaping tree, partly due to its relative ease of transplanting.

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The white oak is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is in our opinion, the most beautiful and the most distinctive of all oak species. It is a long-lived oak of the family Fagaceae, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

Although it is called white oak, it is very unusual to find an individual specimen with white bark; the usual color is a light gray. In the forest it can reach a magnificent height and in the open it develops into a massive broad-topped tree with large branches striking out at wide angles. Normally it is not a very tall tree, typically reaching 80–100 feet at maturity, it nonetheless becomes quite massive and its lower branches are apt to extend far out laterally, parallel to the ground. Trees growing in a forest will become much taller than ones in an open area which develop to be short and massive. In spring the young leaves are of a delicate, silvery pink and covered with a soft, blanket-like down.

White oak is cultivated as an ornamental tree somewhat infrequently due to its slow growth and ultimately huge size. It is not tolerant of urban pollution and road salt and due to its large taproot, is unsuited for a street tree or parking strips/islands. The white oak, is fairly tolerant of a variety of habitats, and may be found on ridges, in valleys, and in between, in dry and moist habitats, and in moderately acid and alkaline soils. It is mainly a lowland tree, this tree is suitable for zone 4 to 8.