Quercus alba L.

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Fagaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Quercus alba L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Tall tree with light gray, coarsely flaky, shallowly furrowed bark and widely spreading branches; twigs soon glabrescent; lvs obovate or oblong-obovate, cuneate at base, thinly floccose beneath at first (the pubescence can be rolled off with one’s thumb), glabrous or nearly so at maturity, pale beneath, the lobes 3 or 4(5) pairs, ascending, oblong to ovate, rounded or rarely acute; acorns sessile or on pedicels to 4 cm, the cup deeply saucer-shaped, pubescent within, covering a fourth to a third of the nut; nut ovoid to cylindric-ovoid, 1.5–2.5 cm. Upland woods; Me. to Mich. and Minn., s. to n. Fla. and e. Tex. Extreme forms in which the lobes are scarcely more than large teeth may be distinguished from the chestnut-oaks by the lack of pubescence.

  • Common Names

    white oak