Tree to 25 m (80 ft) tall and 0.6 m (2 ft) diameter, with rounded crown. Bark light gray, becoming furrowed into scaly plates and ridges. Twigs slender, gray, becoming glabrous, ending in a cluster of small blunt light-brown buds. Leaves alternate, obovate or oblong, with several rounded lobes, tapering to base, 13-20 cm (5-8 in) long and 4-10 cm (1.6-4 in) wide, shiny dark green above, usually gray-green below, turning red, yellow, or brown in fall. Fruits are acorns maturing in the first year, nearly round, 12-25 mm (0.5-1 in) in diameter, with a warty gray cup almost enclosing the whole acorn.
Distribution: Native to the Coastal Plain and lower Mississippi Valley.
Habitat: poorly-drained bottomland forests, usually in areas with standing water in Winter and Spring.
Comment: The lumber is marketed as white oak. Quercus is the ancient classical name for the European oaks; lyrata refers to the somewhat lyre-shaped leaves.
NWI status: OBL
Distribution in Oklahoma: 
BACK
NEXT
RETURN TO INDEX
Last update: 9/16/99
Go to Oklahoma Biological Survey Home Page
Disclaimer