Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus
Section: Quercus (white oaks)
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus alba
FAMILY
Fagaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read Edible Wild Plants: Oak from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
The leaves of Eastern White Oak have rounded lobes that lack bristly tips. The number of lobes is variable, ranging from 7-10 and they can show considerable variation in sinus depth between leaves. Eastern White Oaks hybridize with Post Oaks and Swamp Chestnut Oaks, which adds to their leaf variation. This is one of the most common oaks to find on a hike in the southern Piedmont. Read more at Southern Piedmont Natural History.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus alba
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-001:
Quercus alba FAMILY Fagaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus alba
COMMON NAME:
White Oak
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p28
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JK Marlow jkm191222_2365_q_alba
Clay County AL
Cheaha State Park
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Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_333
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_qual_001_lvd
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba
March
Bark light ashy gray w shallow lengthwise fissures separating into plates, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
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Gill Newberry gn04_q_alba_early_spring
April
In spring a mist of rose and silver: each twig hung with soft velvety leaves, per Trees Worth Knowing (Rogers, 1924).
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Gill Newberry gn04_q_alba_male_and_feml
April
Male flowers in hanging catkins, female flowers inconspicuous, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
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JK Marlow s040419_e
April Greenville County SC
"When white oak leaves are the size of a mouse's ear, it's time to plant corn."
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JK Marlow jkm0305j_01
May Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm210603_1033
June Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmqalba_home
August? Anderson County SC
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_acorn
September
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_bark
September
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_leaves
September
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JK Marlow jkm061021_009
October Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm061025_003
October Greenville County SC
Acorn cup rather thick, covering 1/4 of nut, which is 15-25mm long, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
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JK Marlow jkm121006_263
October Washington County VA
Virginia Creeper Trail
Over 150 yrs old & presumed to be the oldest tree on the Virigina Creeper Trail.
)
JK Marlow jkm231025_6272
October Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
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Alan S. Weakley asw_10230283167199143
November
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Alan S. Weakley asw_10230283167999163
November
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_10230283168159167
November
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_10230283168519176
November
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_10230283169279195
November
)
JK Marlow jkm0211j_21
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s011110_ce
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s011111_de
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s011111_ijk
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s011111_pq
November Greenville County SC
Leaves divided into 7-10 shallow to deeply rounded lobes withut bristle tips, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus alba
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus alba
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Quercus alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-001:
Quercus alba
FAMILY
Fagaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus alba
1181
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Mesic to xeric forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, 5-ranked
FLOWER:
Spring
Staminate calyx 2-8 lobed, pistillate calyx 6-lobed
Petals absent
3-12 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
Staminate flowers in clustered drooping catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Acorn
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p047
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p308
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p213
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p241
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p423
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p318
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p199
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p008
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p162
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p278
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p22
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p255
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p266
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