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 montana
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.
Rock Chestnut Oak is a white oak that grows in upland forests of the Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Piedmont. The leaves can be up to 10 inches long and they have many rounded teeth along their margins. The key difference from Swamp Chestnut Oak (F) leaves is that Rock Chestnut Oak leaves are proportionately narrower. Read more at Southern Piedmont Natural History.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus montana
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH (NAME REJECTED, PROBABLY MISAPPLIED & A SOURCE OF CONFUSION) Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Quercus prinus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (NAME REJECTED, PROBABLY MISAPPLIED & A SOURCE OF CONFUSION) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-008:
Quercus prinus FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus montana
COMMON NAME:
Rock Chestnut Oak, Mountain Oak, Tanbark 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_p29a
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Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_338
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JK Marlow jkm0402b_23
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Proper application of Linnaeus' name "Q. prinus" is controversial & unclear, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
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JK Marlow jkm0402c_05
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Bark deeply furrowed into elongate ridges that are wide at the base, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
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JK Marlow jkm230228_1288
February Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Buds 5-8mm long, scales brown with pale margin, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
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JK Marlow jkm080329_050
March Pickens County SC
Keowee Toxaway State Natural Area
Acorn 1 to 1.5" long, cup fairly thin, enclosing 1/3 to 1/2 of nut, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
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JK Marlow jkm150322_915
March Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm230328_2133
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_montana_bark_1
March Floyd County GA
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JK Marlow jkm0504q_05
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm220421_7169
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Forest
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmqmontana_flwrpc1
April Pickens County SC
Poe Creek State Forest
Staminate flowers in pendulous catkins near base of current year's twig, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
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JK Marlow s040417_b
April Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm230525_3479
May Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
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Ron Lance rwl1197_a
May
Leaf blades nearly elliptical, margins coarsely and irregularly toothed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
leaves of Chestnut Oaks and Chinquapin Oaks
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Gill Newberry gn09_q_montana_acorn_1
September
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JK Marlow jkm200920_7259
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_montana_9_6_05_16
September
Bark has a high tannin concentration and was once used for tanning leather, per Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003).
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_montana_leaves
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_montana_2
September
Yellow petiole 10-32mm long, per Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003).
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JK Marlow s050904_f
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow s050906_a
September Greenville County SC
Leaves mostly obovate, with rounded teeth, teeth sometimes with a minute mucro, per Weakley's Flora.
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Gill Newberry gn10_quercus_montana_bud
October
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JK Marlow jkm0211e_20a
November Greenville County SC
Roadside
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JK Marlow jkm081103_045
November Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Commonly on steep and rocky slopes, dry ridges & in sunny foothill forests, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
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JK Marlow jkm201107_8051b
November Greenville County SC
Caesars Head State Park
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JK Marlow s021110_abd
November Greenville County SC
Roadside
Evenly spaced lateral veins each terminate in a large rounded tooth, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus montana
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus montana
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Quercus montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH (NAME REJECTED, PROBABLY MISAPPLIED & A SOURCE OF CONFUSION)
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Quercus prinus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (NAME REJECTED, PROBABLY MISAPPLIED & A SOURCE OF CONFUSION)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-008:
Quercus prinus
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus montana
1197
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Xeric forests of ridges and slopes, shale barrens, occasionally in mesic situations especially where rocky, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
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) p048
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p309
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p144
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p165
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p304
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p205
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p066
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p183
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p41
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p280
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p22
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p258
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p274
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