White Oak
Quercus alba L.
Also known as Stave Oak.
Mature Size: 80 to 100 feet in height and 3 to 4 feet in diameter.
Form: Tall, clear, sometimes stocky trunk and rounded, spreading crown.
Habitat: Can grow on a wide variety of upland sites, but attains best growth on deep, well-drained, loamy soils.
Leaves
Alternate, simple, 4 to 7 inches long, with 7 to 10 rounded lobes; depth of the sinuses between lobes varies from shallow to almost reaching the midrib; leaf base wedge shaped where it joins the leaf stem.
Flowers
Males yellow-green, in slender 2 to 4 inch hanging catkins; females reddish green, in very small single spikes; both appear along with the leaves.
Fruit
Egg-shaped to oblong acorn, ¾ inch long, light chestnut brown when ripe, maturing in one season; cap warty and bowl-shaped, covering ¼ of the acorn and detaching at maturity.
Bark
Light, ash gray, covered with loose scales or broad plates.
Twigs
Red-brown to somewhat gray or purplish, hairless and often shiny; end buds clustered, red-brown, small, rounded and hairless.
Values and Uses
The wood is light brown, heavy, strong, hard, close-grained and durable. It is used for lumber, barrels, furniture, tools, interior finish, flooring and fuel. The acorns are sweet and a preferred food of deer, bear, turkeys, squirrels and other wildlife. White oak makes an impressive ornamental tree for large landscapes.
Did You Know?
Vessels in the wood are plugged with a substance called tyloses, making it highly water-tight. This trait has made the wood valuable for whiskey and wine barrels, and in earlier days, for shipbuilding.
Last modified: Monday, 10-Mar-2008 16:22:22 EDT