Tree Highlight: White oak
White oak
Quercus alba (Family Fagaceae)
White oak leaves and iconic acorn
The basics
White oak (Quercus alba) is a large tree found in forested areas of dry slopes, valleys, and ravines throughout the eastern U.S. It can grow to 135 feet at maturity. Its leaves have blunt lobes with deeply cut sinuses that turn purple and brown in the fall, and acorns are 3/4- to 1-inch long with a lumpy cap. White oak is a critical part of the distillery industry and is an important timber tree but is also excellent as a landscape tree in cities, streets, parks, and gardens. Like many oaks, it supports a multitude of wildlife by producing acorns.
Did you know?
- The hull of the USS Constitution, the United States' oldest commissioned warship, is made of white oak.
- White oak can live hundreds of years if left undisturbed and unharmed.
- The common and scientific names refer to the whitish color of the finished wood and the bark.
The whitish bark of the white oak tree which gives it its common name
With its long mouthparts (the snout) the acorn weevil feeds on the nutritious white oak acorn
Wildlife
- White oak acorns are a very important part of the diet of deer, squirrels, wild turkey, and many more animals.
- Acorn weevils are specialized acorn feeders: adults feed on acorns on the tree with their long snouts, and larvae develop inside acorns.
- The larvae of the imperial moth consume white oak foliage, and caterpillars of the banded hairstreak moth will feed on dead leaves on the ground.
Uses
- White oak is among the most valuable timber species in eastern North America; the heavy, dense wood is used in construction, furniture, cabinetry, flooring, and for Kentucky barrels and caskets.
- Not only animals eat white oak acorns; people can, too, if they are boiled before consumption.
White oak trees are known for their size, growing to be up to 100 feet tall
Benefits
- Over a 20-year period, a healthy white oak with a diameter of 25 inches will offset 8,877 car miles worth of CO2, absorb enough stormwater to fill 2,846 bathtubs, and remove an amount of pollution from the air - in gaseous and particulate form - equivalent in weight to 165 smartphones! Learn more at: https://mytree.itreetools.org/
White oak Tree of the Week video
By University of Kentucky Forestry and Natural Resources Extension.
Click to watchContact us: ufi@uky.edu
Images sourced from forestyimages.org
