Eden Keeper
 
Services
 
Products
 
De-Beautification Awards
 
Featured Topics
    Plants
         Native
         Edible
         Wildflowers
         Biblical
         Weeds
         Bartram
         Plant Famlies
    Places
    Practices
     Quips
 
Sitemap
 
Photos
 
Links
 
About
 
Contact

     Oaks is the second largest genus in the number of species native to Alabama after hawthorns, but the largest Alabama state champion hawthorn, dotted hawthorn, Crataegus punctata Jacq. , is smaller in total points than the smallest state champion oak tree, myrtle oak, Quercus myrtifolia Willd., which is also a national co-champion oak tree that is 35 feet tall, 26 inches around, and has a spread of 30 feet where it grows at the Fort Morgan State Historical Site.  As in this case the height is the only measurement category where an oak is not currently at the top, but after that they dominate larger measurements and especially the totals, but there are even some oaks that are shrubs.  Due to the large number of oaks rather than giving the measurement for each state champion, other than a few notable examples, here is the link to the Champion Trees of Alabama.  Of the 90 native species recorded in the United States of America at least 37 are found in Alabama while most of those that are not found in Alabama are limited to either California or Texas, a couple appear to have a range gap in Alabama and a couple more are found north of Alabama while Arkansas, Arizona, and Florida each have a species only found there.  Oaks frequently hybridize and there are 97 described hybrids recognized in North America including a couple with English oak, Q. robur L., which is one of a handful of naturalized species.  There is some concern that sawtooth oak, Q. acutissima Carruthers, may become an invasive exotic due to the large acorn crops that start at a young age thus it is being promoted for wildlife enhancement along with the invasive exotic Lespedeza Michx. species.  Similar government promotion is what led to kudzu, Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr., being such a problem, and I even have a textbook on transportation that was written by a kudzu denier stating that it was native.

   Identification of our oaks starts by putting them into one of two groups, red oaks and white oaks, where respectively useful keys are leaf lobes that are sharp versus rounded, acorns maturing in two growing season rather than just one, and the inside of the acorn shell with or without fuzz.  Some people claim the wood of one or the other should not be used due to a disagreeable odor, but I either can’t tell or remember which one it is.  Some of the white oak acorns are sweet enough to eat raw rather than bitter like the red oaks dut to tannins, although the bitterness can be removed such as was done by Native Americans such as evidenced by a recent the archeological dig done along US 11 in Fort Payne, Alabama, where a friend of mine identified many hulls of oaks and hickories although chestnut seemed to be oddly absent.  Due to these tannins wildlife also prefers acorns from the white oak group when red oak acorns are also available.  Occasionally there is a lost or reduced acorn crop due to inclement weather whether it is a late freeze or heavy rain when the pollen is being produced, but rarely does this affect the acorn crop of both red oaks and white oaks over a wide area.  For example the Easter freeze of 2007 wiped out the oak flowers, which affected white oak acorns for that year and red oak acorns the next year.  The pollen production also progresses with both the season and elevation so a prolonged rain storm will only affect a portion of the population such as a specific elevation range while wind can still bring pollen from elsewhere.  Deer hunters will be most familiar with this since often seeing years with one kind of acorn or the other as well as variable amounts at different elevations and/or locations.

In the white oak group some of the best Alabama natives for acorn production due wide distribution and/or availability at nurseries are white oak, Q. alba L., swamp white oak, Q. bicolor Willd., overcup oak, Q. lyrate Walter, bur oak, Q. macrocarpa Michx., swamp chestnut oak, Q. michauxii Nutt., chinkapin oak, Q. muehlenbergii Engelm., rock chestnut oak, Q. prinus L.(which is synonymous with Q. montana Willd.), post oak, Q. stellata Wangenh., and live oak, Q. virginiana Mill.  The state champion swamp white oak is 90 feet tall, 119 inches around and has an average limb spread of 30 feet, and it is found in Madison County on City of Huntsville property that includes the Hayes Nature Preserve.  Those with the largest acorns are overcup oak, bur oak, and swamp chestnut oak all of which are even larger that the more familiar rock chestnut oak, which has many oblong acorns that are yellowish green turning to brown.  The three chestnut oaks, swamp chestnut oak, chinkapin oak, and rock chestnut oak all have virtually identical leaves, but the can be distinguished by habitat and/or bark when acorns are not present.  Swamp chestnut oak is a facultative wetland species found in bottomlands where they can be seen on the Roy B. Whitaker Preserve in Paint Rock Valley along with overcup oak, which is an obligate wetland species.  Chinkapin oak grows on limestone thus it can probably be found on the lower slopes of the surrounding mountains where it may be mistaken for white oak due to the similar bark.  Rock chestnut oak or just chestnut oak is more common on mountains where the bedrock is not limestone besides having rock hard deeply furrowed bark.  Post oak has the most distinctive leaf shape that is vaguely similar to a Cross bottony.  Live oak is distinctive due to the leaves remaining on the tree until just before new leaves are produced thus it is technically tardily deciduous rather than evergreen where mature leaves actually stay on for more than a full year.  The tree with the largest girth in Alabama is a live oak at 377 inches and this is more than enough to also give it the largest points total of 467 despite the height only being 60 feet with a limb spread of 118 feet, which is the same spread as the state champion white oak.  Swamp white oak mostly ranges north of Alabama, but other notable white oaks outside of Alabama thus not discussed are found in Texas and California, and while at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico I saw Gambel oak, Q. gambelii Nutt., which is also in the white oak group as well as the exotic English oak previously mentioned.

     Important red oaks are scarlet oak, Q. coccinea Münchh.; southern red oak, Q. falcata Michx., which is also known as Spanish oak; water oak, Q. nigra L.; cherrybark oak, Q. pagoda Raf,; pin oak, Q. palustris Münchh.; willow oak, Q. phellos L.; northern red oak, Q. rubra L.; Shumard oak, Q. shumardii Buckley; Nuttall’s oak, Q. texana Buckley, which is synonymous with Q. nuttallii Palmer; and black oak, Q. velutina Lam.  Some of these can be notoriously difficult to distinguish including cross species synonymy, although a few have distinct leaves such as water oak, which are shaped like spatulas, and willow oak, which are long and narrow, where both of these have many small acorns and tardily deciduous leaves that are difficult to rake up since they fit between the teeth of the rake.  Willow oak is sometimes called pin oak although pin oak is a more northern species with deeply lobed leaves and larger acorns, but pin oak is overplanted because it tolerates the rough handling and conditions of losing most roots when transplanted to places having little soil like parking lot islands.  Southern red oak and cherrybark oak are similar except for the leaves and wetland indicator status where the former is facultative upland and the leaves have three prominent lobes near the tip and the later is facultative wetland with more lobes on the leaves, which when held tip down have a resemblance to a pagoda thus gives both the specific epithet and another vernacular name pagoda oak.  Scarlet oak has bark that has alternating dark and light bands similar to a zebra, although this can be obscured by lichens such as on the one I’ll be nominating for Alabama state champion since it is currently vacant.  Shumard oak and Nutall’s oak are often included in the Arbor Day seedling give away sponsored by the Scottsboro Tree Commission.  These trees can get a hundred feet tall, but it is amazing how many people with small lots still come and get them by the handful.  Black oak and northern red oak also appear similar, but black oak has yellow inner bark.  One additional species in the red oak group that reaches the southern limit of its range in Alabama is shingle oak, Q. imbricaria Michx., which was has both a common name and specific epithet that refers to the use of the wood for shingles.  Shingle oak is one of only a few native deciduous oaks to have unlobed leaves and the Alabama state champion is in Joe Wheeler State Park where it is 90 feet tall, 148 inches around, and has 92 feet of limb spread.

There are several often dwarf sized oaks that are relatively limited in range and availability at nurseries, but if they can be found they would make interesting specimens.  The national champion blackjack oak, Q. marilandica Münchh, is found in Alabama and it is 122 feet tall, has a girth of 124 inches, and a limb spread of 49 feet, but usually it is rather scrubby due to the habitat can be recognized by the dark rough bark and large although shortly spatulate leathery leaves.  Bluejack oak, Q. incana Bartram, and Darlington oak, Q. hemisphaerica Bartram ex Willd., which is also known as laurel oak, were both discovered by William Bartram besides the dozens of known species from which  he probably collected specimens.  This is significant considering that it was almost unbelievable where he sent the specimens since there are only three species of oak native to England.  Diamond leaf oak, Q. laurifolia Michx., is also known as swamp laurel oak and is often considered synonymous with Darlington oak both of which are similar to live oak.  Some other small or dwarf species that are similar to post oak (4), chinquapin oak, Shumard oak, and live oak (2), are respectively Boynton's sand post oak, Q. boyntonii Beadle, which is found on Lookout Mountain (and possibly Sand Mountain if confirmed) in Alabama where it is indigenous baring a questionable reported occurrence in Texas; Chapman oak, Q. chapmanii Sarg.; sandpost oak or runner oak, Q. margarettae (Ashe) Small; bottomland post oak, Q. similis Ashe; dwarf chinquapin oak, Q. prinoides Willd.; mapleleaf oak, Q. acerifolia (Palmer) Stoynoff & Hess, which is indigenous to Arkansas; sand live oak, Q. geminate Small; and dwarf live oak, Q. minima (Sarg.) Small, which has acorns when only a few feet tall making it potentially one of the best oaks for bonsai.  A couple of species are called bluff oak including bastard white oak, Q. austrina Small, and bastard oak, Q. sinuate Walter, which is synonymous with the Durand oak, Q. durandii Buckley, and that is how it is listed for the state champion and in this case also a national champion tree that is 92 feet tall, 162 inches around, and has an average spread of 70 feet.  Turkey oak, Q. laevis Walter, is a small oak tree in the red oak group that is found in sandy habitats such as Alabama peach country, and has leaves shaped like turkey tracks.  Georgia oak, Q. georgiana M.A. Curtis, also known as Stone Mountain oak, is another small red oak with a limited distribution.  The other eastern oaks with unlobed deciduous leaves rather than tardily deciduous like the live oaks is the rare Oglethorpe oak, Q. oglethorpensis Duncan, which is in the white oak group.  Other than bear oak, Q. ilicifolia Wangenh., which ranges northeast of Alabama, the many other small native oaks that were not discussed here are found out west where many of them are called shin oak because they are often only shin high while large specimens may have a trunk that is shin sized although much of the small size may be due to the habitat considering that both post oak and Gambel oak range into the same areas and are similarly stunted.