Quercus falcata |
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chêne rouge, southern red oak, Spanish oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark dark brown to black, narrowly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orange. |
Twigs | reddish brown, (1-)1.5-3.5(-4.5) mm diam., pubescent. |
Leaves | blade ovate to elliptic or obovate, 100-300 × 60-160 mm, base rounded or U-shaped, margins with 3-7 deep lobes and 6-20 awns, terminal lobe often long-acuminate, much longer than lateral lobes, apex acute; surfaces abaxially sparsely to uniformly tawny-pubescent, adaxially glossy and glabrous or puberulent along midrib, secondary veins raised on both surfaces. |
Acorns | biennial; cup saucer-shaped to cup-shaped, 3-7 mm high × 9-18 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent, scale tips tightly appressed, acute; nut subglobose, 9-16 × 8-15 mm, often striate, puberulent, scar diam. 5-10 mm. |
Terminal | buds light reddish brown, ovoid, 4-8 mm, puberulent throughout. |
Quercus falcata |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Dry or sandy upland sites |
Elevation | 0-800 m (0-2600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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Discussion | Native Americans used Quercus falcata in various ways to treat indigestion, chronic dysentery, sores, chapped skin, chills and fevers, lost voice, asthma, milky urine, and as an antiseptic, a tonic, and an emetic (D. E. Moerman 1986). Quercus falcata reportedly hybridizes with Q. ilicifolia (= Q. ×caesariensis Moldenke), Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia (= Q. ×beaumontiana Sargent), and Q. marilandica (E. J. Palmer 1948); with Q. nigra, and Q. pagoda (S. A. Ware 1967; R. J. Jensen 1989); and with Q. phellos, Q. shumardii, Q. hemisphaerica, and Q. velutina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Q. digitata, Q. falcata var. triloba |
Name authority | Michaux: Hist. Chênes Amér., no. 16, plate 28. (1801) |
Web links |