Quercus nigra |
Quercus pagoda |
|
---|---|---|
chêne gris, water oak |
cherrybark oak, Texas oak |
|
Habit | Trees, deciduous or tardily deciduous, to 30 m. Bark grayish black, fissures irregular, shallow, inner bark pinkish. | Trees, deciduous, to 40 m. Bark nearly black with narrow and noticeably flaky ridges, often resembling that of wild black cherry, inner bark orange. |
Twigs | dark red-brown, 1.5-2.5 mm diam., glabrous. |
yellowish brown, 2-3.5 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, 90-300 × 60-160 mm, base cuneate to rounded or truncate, margins with 5-11 lobes and 10-25 awns, lobes oblong, rarely falcate, terminal lobe rarely exceeding lateral lobes in length, apex acute; surfaces abaxially pale, tomentose, adaxially glossy, 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, 3-7 mm high × 10-18 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent, scale tips tightly appressed, acute; nut subglobose, 9-15 × 8-16 mm, often striate, puberulent, scar diam. 5-9 mm. |
Terminal | buds reddish brown, ovoid, 3-6.5 mm, puberulent throughout, occasionally densely pubescent on apical 2/3. |
buds light reddish brown, ovoid, 4-9 mm, strongly 5-angled in cross section, puberulent throughout. |
Quercus nigra |
Quercus pagoda |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Mesic alluvial and lowland sites, also barrens, dunes, hammocks, and low ridges to steep slopes | Poorly drained bottoms and mesic slopes |
Elevation | 0-450 m (0-1500 ft) | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
|
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
|
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 pagoda is often treated as a variety of Q. falcata; it is quite distinctive, however, both morphologically and ecologically (S. A. Ware 1967; R. J. Jensen 1989). This species reportedly hybridizes with Q. falcata and Q. phellos (D. M. Hunt 1989). (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. falcata var. leucophylla, Q. falcata var. pagodifolia, Q. leucophylla, Q. pagodifolia |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 995. (1753) | Rafinesque: Alsogr. Amer., 23. (1838) |
Web links |