Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus coccinea

Quercus margarettae

scarlet oak

dwarf post oak, runner oak, sand post oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m; lower trunk without stubs of dead branches.
Bark

dark gray to dark brown, irregularly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orangish pink.

light gray, scaly.
Twigs

reddish brown, (1-)2-3.5 mm diam., glabrous.

green or reddish, becoming gray, 1-2(-3) mm diam., glabrous.
Buds

reddish brown, ovoid, 2-3(-6) mm, apex obtuse, sparsely pubescent to glabrate.
Leaves

blade elliptic to ovate or obovate, 70-160 × 80-130 mm, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 5-9 deep lobes and 18-50 awns, lobes distally expanded, sinuses usually extending more than 1/2 distance to midrib, apex acute;

surfaces abaxially glabrous except for minute axillary tufts of tomentum, adaxially glossy light green, glabrous, secondary veins raised on both surfaces.

blade obovate to narrowly obovate, (25-)40-80(-135) × 20-40(-80) mm, base cuneate to rounded-attenuate, margins moderately to deeply lobed, lobes rounded or spatulate, sometimes middle or distal 2 lobes compound, with secondary lobe on proximal side, divergent at right angles, forming cruciform pattern, secondary veins 3-5 on each side, apex broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially light green, with interlocking, erect, 2-4(-6)-rayed stellate hairs, velvety to touch, adaxially dark green, glossy, glabrous or sparsely stellate, not harsh to touch.
Acorns

biennial;

cup turbinate to hemispheric, 7-13 mm high × 16.5-31.5 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface light to dark reddish brown, glossy, glabrous to puberulent, inner surface light brown, glabrous, occasionally with ring of pubescence around scar, scales often tuberculate, base broad, glossy, margins strongly concave with tips tightly appressed, acute to attenuate;

nut oblong to subglobose, 12-22 × 10-21 mm, glabrous, with 1 or more rings of fine pits at apex, scar diam. 6.5-13.5 mm.

1-3, subsessile or on peduncle to 20 mm;

cup deeply cup-shaped, basally rounded or constricted, (7-)9-12 mm deep × 12-20 mm wide, enclosing to 3/4 nut, scales loosely appressed, finely grayish pubescent;

nut light brown, ovoid, 15-25(-30) × 9-13(-16) mm, glabrous.
Cotyledons

distinct.
Terminal

buds dark reddish brown, conic to ovoid, 4-7 mm, noticeably 5-angled in cross section, usually silvery- or tawny-pubescent distal to middle.

Small

trees or shrubs , deciduous, to 12 m, sometimes rhizomatous.
2n

= 24.

Quercus coccinea

Quercus margarettae
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Poor soils, well-drained uplands, dry slopes, and ridges, occasionally on poorly drained sites Deep sands and gravels, often in dense woods as understory or in open scrubland and pine barrens
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 0-600 m (0-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trees having acorns with broad, distinctly warty cups are sometimes classified as Quercus coccinea var. tuberculata Sargent.

Quercus coccinea reportedly hybridizes with Q. imbricaria, Q. ilicifolia (= Q. ×robbinsii Trelease), Q. laevis, and Q. palustris (E. J. Palmer 1948) and with Q. phellos, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina (= Q. ×fontana Laughlin).

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

Historical records for Quercus margaretta exist for New York, but no current population is known there.

Populations of post oak in east Texas (the Cross Timbers region) on sands and gravels exhibit characteristics somewhat intermediate between Quercus stellata and Q. margaretta; most of the trees at those localities have leaves with abaxial surface similar to Q. margaretta, leaf shape more similar to Q. stellata, and twigs somewhat intermediate between the two species in diameter and varying from tightly pubescent to glabrate. Acorn characters tend toward Q. margaretta as well. These populations have been treated as Q. drummondii Liebmann, the Drummond post oak. Similar intermediates occur sporadically throughout the range of the post oaks in southeastern United States, but they do not form such continuous and morphologically stable populations; perhaps the Texas material is best treated as a nothospecies, Q. ×drummondii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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
Synonyms Q. coccinea var. tuberculata Q. minor var. margaretta, Q. stellata var. margaretta
Name authority Münchhausen: Hausvater 5(1): 254. (1770) (Ashe) J. K. Small: in J. K. Small, Fl. S.E. U.S., 355. (1903)
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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