Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus bicolor

Quercus sinuata

chêne bicolore, swamp white oak

bastard oak, bastard white oak, Durand oak, Durand white oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark dark gray, scaly or flat-ridged. Trees or shrubs, deciduous, to 15(-20) m, with solitary or multiple trunks.
Bark

gray to light brown, flaky to papery and exfoliating.
Twigs

light brown or tan, 2-3(-4) mm diam., glabrous.

light gray or gray, 1-2(-3) mm diam., glabrous, rarely minutely puberulent.
Buds

light or dark brown, globose to ovoid, 2-3 mm, glabrous.

brown or reddish brown, broadly ovoid, 2-3 mm, essentially glabrous.
Leaves

blade obovate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, (79-)120-180(-215) × (40-)70-110(-160) mm, base narrowly cuneate to acute, margins regularly toothed, or entire with teeth in distal 1/2 only, or moderately to deeply lobed, or sometimes lobed proximally and toothed distally, secondary veins arched, divergent, (3-)5-7 on each side, apex broadly rounded or ovate;

surfaces abaxially light green or whitish, with minute, flat, appressed-stellate hairs and erect, 1-4-rayed hairs, velvety to touch, adaxially dark green, glossy, glabrous.

blade oblong to oblanceolate, or narrowly rhomboid, or cuneiform, or rounded-3-dentate, (25-)30-120(-140) × (15-)25-60 mm, base acute, cuneate, attenuate-rounded, or obtuse, margins entire to irregularly toothed or moderately, sinuately lobed, flat, secondary veins ca. 7-11 on each side, apex broadly rounded, rarely attenuately narrowed or obscurely 3-lobed;

surfaces abaxially silvery or dull green, with scattered to crowded, minute, appressed-stellate, 8-10-rayed hairs, or glabrate or glabrous, especially in shade forms, adaxially green or dull green, glabrous.
Acorns

1-3(-5) mm, on thin axillary peduncle (20-)40-70 mm;

cup hemispheric or turbinate, 10-15 mm deep × 15-25 mm wide, enclosing 1/2-3/4 nut, scales closely appressed, finely grayish tomentose, those near rim of cup often with short, stout, irregularly recurved and sometimes branched, spinose awns emerging from tubercle;

nut light brown, ovoid-ellipsoid or oblong, (12-)15-21(-25) × 9-18 mm, glabrous.

solitary or paired, subsessile or on axillary peduncle to 1-7 mm;

cup saucer-shaped to shallowly cup-shaped, rarely deeper, 2-8 mm deep × 8-15(-20) mm wide, enclosing 1/8-1/4 nut, rarely more, base flat, rounded, or constricted, margin thin, scales closely appressed, grayish with reddish margins, ovate, flat, obtuse, not tuberculate;

nut light brown, depressed-ovoid to oblong, 7-15 × 7-12(-17) mm, glabrous.
Cotyledons

distinct.

distinct.
2n

= 24.

Quercus bicolor

Quercus sinuata
Phenology Flowering in spring.
Habitat Low swamp forests, moist slopes, poorly drained uplands
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Putative hybrids between Quercus bicolor and Q. macrocarpa are common in areas of contact. The hybrids tend to have more deeply lobed leaves and varying degrees of development of awns as a fringe along the margin of the acorn cup. Such characteristics occur sporadically throughout many populations of Q. bicolor; in some cases they may occur because of subtle introgression.

The Iroquois used Quercus bicolor in the treatment of cholera, broken bones, consumption, and as a witchcraft medicine (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

The question of the correct name for this species has persisted, with some authors rejecting the usage here in favor of Quercus durandii. Although no type material is extant, the original description of Q. sinuata is consistent with the concept presented here, as by W. W. Ashe (1916) and W. Trelease (1924), and inconsistent with any other oak from the broad area covered by Thomas Walter's Flora Caroliniana (1788).

The two varieties differ in habit, habitat, leaf size and lobing, and geographic range, and considerable variability exists within both varities as to the degree and density of silvery stellate-pubescence on the abaxial surface of the leaf. Sun leaves of both tend to have a higher proportion of silvery pubescence, and shade leaves and some individual trees tend to have more glabrate leaves, although evidence of flat-stellate trichomes is usually apparent. Plants with young, expanding leaves sometimes are mistaken for Quercus nigra, a member of the red oak group.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Trees to 20 m, trunk usually solitary; moist bottomlands and riparian habitats.
var. sinuata
1. Shrubs or small trees to 3(–5) m, often forming thickets, trunks multiple from near ground; dry limestone hills.
var. breviloba
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus
Sibling taxa
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Subordinate taxa
Q. sinuata var. breviloba, Q. sinuata var. sinuata
Synonyms Q. bicolor var. angustifolia, Q. bicolor var. cuneiformis, Q. bicolor var. platanoides, Q. platanoides Q. durandii
Name authority Willdenow: in G. H. E. Muhlenberg, Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Neue Schriften 3: 396. (1801) Walter: Fl. Carol., 235. (1788)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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