Quercus nigra |
Quercus ilicifolia |
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chêne gris, water oak |
bear oak, scrub oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous or tardily deciduous, to 30 m. Bark grayish black, fissures irregular, shallow, inner bark pinkish. | Trees or shrubs, deciduous, to 6 m. Bark dark gray, becoming shallowly fissured and scaly, inner bark pinkish. |
Twigs | dark red-brown, 1.5-2.5 mm diam., glabrous. |
brown or yellowish brown, 1.5-3 mm diam., pubescent. |
Leaves | blade distinctly obtrullate, rarely elliptic or merely obovate, widest near apex, 30-120(-160) × 15-60(-70) mm, base attenuate or cuneate, rarely rounded, margins entire with 1 apical awn or with 2-3 shallow lobes and 2-5 awns (leaves on juvenile or 2d-flush growth may be deeply lobed with more awns), apex obtuse to blunt or rounded; surfaces abaxially glabrous except for minute or conspicuous axillary tufts of tomentum, veins rarely raised, adaxially glabrous with secondary veins somewhat impressed. |
blade ovate to elliptic or obovate, 50-120 × 30-90 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins with 3-7 acute lobes separated by shallow sinuses and 5-14 awns, apex acute; surfaces abaxially pale green to gray, tomentose, adaxially glossy dark green, glabrous, secondary veins raised on both surfaces. |
Acorns | biennial; cup saucer-shaped, 2.5-5.5 mm high × 10-18 mm wide, covering 1/4 nut or less, outer surface puberulent, inner surface sparsely to uniformly pubescent, scale tips tightly appressed, acute; nut broadly ovoid, 9.5-14 × 9.5-14.5 mm, often faintly striate, glabrate, scar diam. 6-11.5 mm. |
biennial; cup saucer-shaped to cup-shaped, 5-9 mm high × 10.5-17 mm wide, covering 1/4-1/3(-1/2) nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent, scale tips tightly appressed, acute; nut ovoid to subglobose, 9.5-16 × 8-11 mm, striate, puberulent, scar diam. 4.8-7 mm. |
Terminal | buds reddish brown, ovoid, 3-6.5 mm, puberulent throughout, occasionally densely pubescent on apical 2/3. |
buds dark reddish brown, ovoid, 2-4.5 mm, apex puberulent. |
2n | = 24. |
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Quercus nigra |
Quercus ilicifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Mesic alluvial and lowland sites, also barrens, dunes, hammocks, and low ridges to steep slopes | Dry, sandy soils and open rocky outcrops |
Elevation | 0-450 m (0-1500 ft) | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
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CT; DE; MA; MD; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; PA; RI; VA; VT; WV
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Discussion | Typically on mesic alluvial and lowland sites, Quercus nigra also occurs on a wide variety of soil types and in a diversity of habitats. Trees with 3-lobed leaves with attenuate bases have been recognized as Quercus nigra var. tridentifera Sargent. Quercus nigra reportedly hybridizes with Q. falcata (= Q. ×garlandensis E. J. Palmer), Q. incana, Q. laevis (= Q. ×walteriana Ashe), Q. marilandica (= Q. ×sterilis Trelease), Q. phellos (= Q. ×capesii W. Wolf), Q. shumardii (= Q. ×neopalmeri Sudworth), and Q. velutina (Q. ×demarei Ashe). In addition, D. M. Hunt (1989) cited evidence of hybridization also with Q. arkansana, Q. georgiana, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. laurifolia, Q. myrtifolia, Q. palustris, Q. rubra, and Q. texana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Quercus ilicifolia reportedly hybridizes with Q. coccinea, Q. falcata, Q. imbricaria, Q. marilandica, Q. phellos, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina. The Iroquois considered Quercus ilicifolia very helpful in treating gynecological problems (D. E. Moerman 1986). (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. Lobatae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Q. nana, Q. nigra var. tridentifera, Q. uliginosa | Q. nana |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 995. (1753) | Wangenheim: Beytr. Teut. Forstwiss., 79, plate 6, fig. 17. (1787) |
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