Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus
Section: Lobatae (red oaks)
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus nigra
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 Water or Paddle Oak are highly variable in shape and they may or may not have lobes. Two features to look for on the leaves are that they are generally widest near the tip and have a wedge-shaped base. They’re also relatively small, often being less than 4 inches long. Read more at Southern Piedmont Natural History.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus nigra
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus nigra
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-025:
Quercus nigra FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus nigra
COMMON NAME:
Water Oak, Paddle 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_p33
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Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_293
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_quni_001_lvd
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_quni_006_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm0501b_08
January Greenville County SC
Roadside
Some green leaves until midwinter, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm0501c_15
January Pickens County SC
Roadside
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JK Marlow jkm090119_003
January Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm180218_0287
February McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
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Gill Newberry gn03_q_migra_female_flowe
March
Pistillate flowers solitary or 2-3 on a short spike, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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Gill Newberry gn03_quercus_nigra
March
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Gill Newberry gn03_quercus_nigra2
March
Staminate flowers in clustered drooping catkins, each flower with 3-12 stamens, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow s050503_b
May Greenville County SC
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_nigra_leaves
September
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Paul Thompson pstquercus_nigra
September?
Note tufts of woolly pubescence on leaf undersides in lateral vein axils. — Clemson Extension
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JK Marlow jkm0510c_09
October Greenville County SC
Churchyard or cemetery
Thin acorn cup, covering 1/4 nut; nut mostly 10-14mm long and as wide, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
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JK Marlow jkm181031_5438
November Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow s041201_b
December Greenville County SC
Churchyard or cemetery
Leaves broadest near tip, tapering to a long narrow base, sometimes lobed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
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JK Marlow s041201_c
December Greenville County SC
Churchyard or cemetery
Seedlings and fire sprouts of this species are highly variable in leaf morphology, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus nigra
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus nigra
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Quercus nigra
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-025:
Quercus nigra
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus nigra
1193
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Bottomland forests, especially on levees or second terraces where flooded infrequently and for short periods, less commonly on mesic slopes, but also now widely distributed and common as a "weed tree" in upland situations, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Mountains)
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!
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p298
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p209
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p072
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p186
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p41
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p281
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p24
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p276
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