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.
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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JK Marlow jkm0402e_05
February Greenville County SC
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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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba
March
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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
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_acorn
September
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_bark
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_alba_leaves
September
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Paul Thompson pstquercus_alba
September?
Leaves are large with 7-11 rounded lobes and sinuses. — Clemson Extension
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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).
)
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 jkm0111k_22
November Greenville County SC
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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).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmqalba_home
Month Unknown Anderson County SC
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.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, 5-ranked
FLOWER:
Spring
Unisexual
Staminate calyx 2-8 lobed, pistillate calyx 6-lobed
Petals absent
3-12 stamens in staminate flowers
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 (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p213
- 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