water oak
Quercus nigra L.
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Form & Habitat
water oak form and habitat water oak form and habitat water oak form and habitat, wet conditions water oak form and habitat, dry conditions
Leaves
water oak leaves
Twigs
water oak twig water oak twig
Bark
water oak bark water oak bark water oak bark
Flowers
water oak: male flowers water oak: male flowers water oak flowers (female) water oak flowers (female)
Fruit
water oak fruit water oak fruit water oak fruit water oak fruit water oak fruit
  • FAMILY: FAGACEAE
  • ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:
  • LEAVES: tardily deciduous, gradually falling over winter, alternate, simple, to ca. 4” long by 2” wide, variable in size and shape, blades typically spatulate (broadest distally) with apices unlobed to three-lobed; blades of juvenile trees and stump sprouts are widely variable, to include exhibiting lateral lobing with the lobes bristle-tipped
  • FLOWER: unisexual, plants monoecious, male flowers in catkins, female flowers inconspicuous, born singly or in short few-flowered axillary spikes
  • FRUIT: acorn to ca. 0.4” long, ovoid to subglobose in outline, flattened basally and rounded apically, nearly black when mature; cupule saucer shaped, shallow, embracing little more than the acorn base
  • TWIGS: slender, dark brown, glabrous; buds lance-ovoid, to ca. 0.25" long, sharp-pointed
  • BARK: on smaller trees, gray-brown and smoothish; on larger trees, dark gray to blackish, shallowly and irregularly ridged and furrowed
  • FORM: medium size tree, to ca. 70’ tall and 3’ dbh; fast-growing
  • HABITAT: very frequent across our landscapes, a prolific ruderal species readily colonizing open growing space in open fields and disturbed forests
  • WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative (FAC): Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
  • RANGE: southeastern US [USGS Range Map]
  • USES: wood used for rough lumber, not highly valuable, prone to knots, splitting, and insect damage; a frequent ornamental despite its brittle nature (possibly an accidental ornamental in that fast-growing seedlings get established and attain a substantial size so quickly that they are retained rather than cut down?)
  • WILDLIFE: valuable hard mast and cavity tree
    • Best Recognition Features:
    1. red oak with dark gray to blackish, tight and shallowly ridged and furrowed bark
    2. leaves typically spatulate; wild variation in shape on seedlings, saplings, and stump sprouts
    3. small acorns, <1” long, with shallow cupules
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