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 laurifolia
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 laurifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus laurifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-031:
Quercus laurifolia FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus obtusa
COMMON NAME:
Laurel Oak, Swamp Laurel Oak, Diamond Leaf Oak
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_296
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_qula3_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_qula3_003_pvd
)
)
JK Marlow jkm090221_077
February Richland County SC
Congaree National Park
Leaf shape variable: usually widened near tip but often wider at middle, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Keith Bradley kab_q_laurifolia_75212
March Monroe County FL
Big Cypress National Preserve
Bark dark gray, shallowly ridged and furrowed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow s101017_laureloak
October Mecklenburg County NC
Leaf tips blunt, usually without bristle tips, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus laurifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus laurifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Quercus laurifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-031:
Quercus laurifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus obtusa
1864
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Mesic to seasonally flooded soils of floodplains, also (rarely) mesic slopes and swamps in maritime forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Semi-evergreen
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!
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p210
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p050
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p177
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p209
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p272
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