Quercus falcata

Last updated

Southern red oak
Quercus falcata leaf bark.jpg
Leaf and bark
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus subg. Quercus
Section: Quercus sect. Lobatae
Species:
Q. falcata
Binomial name
Quercus falcata
Quercus falcata range map 1.png
Synonyms [3]
List
  • Quercus aureaRaf.
  • Quercus digitataSudw.
  • Quercus elongataMuhl.
  • Quercus hudsonianaDippel
  • Quercus hypophlaeosPetz. & G.Kirchn.
  • Quercus nobilisK.Koch
  • Quercus trilobaMichx.

Quercus falcata, also called southern red oak, spanish oak, [4] bottomland red oak or three-lobed red oak is an oak (part of the genus Quercus). Native to the southeastern United States, it gets its name the "Spanish Oak" as these are the areas of early Spanish colonies, whilst "southern red oak" comes from both its range and leaf color during late summer and fall. [5] The southern red oak is a deciduous angiosperm, so has leaves that die after each growing period and come back in the next period of growth. [5]

Contents

Description

Quercus falcata is a medium to large-sized deciduous tree 25–30 meters (82–98 feet) tall, with a few forest grown specimens on highly productive sites reaching 35–44 m (115–144 ft), with a trunk up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter, the crown with a broad, round-topped head.

The leaves are 10–30 centimetres (4–12 inches) long and 6–16 cm (2+1⁄4–6+1⁄4 in) wide, with 3 to 5 sharply pointed, often curved, bristle-tipped lobes, the central lobe long and narrow; the small number of long, narrow lobes is diagnostic, readily distinguishing southern red oak from other red oaks. The base of the leaf is distinctly rounded into an inverted bell shape and often lopsided. They are dark green and shiny above, and rusty and hairy below, particularly along the midrib and veins.

The seed is a short acorn 9–16 millimetres (11⁄32–5⁄8 in) long, bright orange-brown, enclosed for one-third to half of its length in a flat cup. The acorn matures at the end of its second season. The bark is dark brownish gray with narrow, shallow ridges. [6]

Famous specimens

Queen Anne's County Oak is a southern red oak on record as the largest southern red oak in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. The oak was located on Romancoke Road. It fell on July 23, 2017 due to a tornado. The tree was at least 200 years old, stood 20 m (66 ft) tall, and had a 31.2 m (102 ft) spread. [7]

Taxonomy

The southern red oak is a member of the beech family (Fagaceae) and 1 of the 207 oak species in the U.S, and is in the section of the Quercus genus Lobatae, the red oaks. [8] Quercus falcata has the following synonyms: Quercus aurea, Q. digitate, Q. elongate, Q. hudsoniana, Q. hypophlaeos,Q. nobilis and Q. triloba. [9] Q. falcata was described in 1801 by Andre Michaux. Several southern red oak hybrids have been described including Quercus × caesariensis (Q. falcata×Quercus ilicifolia) and Quercus × beaumontiana (Q. falcata × Quercus laurifolia). [10]

Etymology

Quercus, is Latin for "oak" and followed by the specific epithet, falcata, which in Latin means "sickle-shaped" in reference to the shape of the lobes that are present on their leaves. [11]

Distribution and habitat

Quercus falcata occurs in sandy, loamy or clay soils of upland sites. These soils are often dry, acidic and nutrient poor. [5] In suitable habitats, the species can be found from southern New York (Long Island) south to central Florida and west to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. [12] In the northeastern portion of its range the species is relatively rare and found almost exclusively along the coast; its highest prevalence is throughout the piedmont region of the Southeast. [13]

Ecology

Southern red oak has been reported to form occasional hybrids with several other red oaks in the region.

The southern red oak is susceptible to damage as a result of its relatively thin bark. This thinner bark means that fire can easily damage the trees in the form of fire scars and other damage. Bark roughness increases in xeric sites compared to mesic ones potentially an adaptation to fire frequency. [14] The seedlings of southern red oak can survive prescribed fire in winter. [15] The harm caused by fire can leave the tree vulnerable to heart rots. [16]

When exposed to the fungi, Ceratocystis fagacearum, the southern red oak (along with other oak species) will suffer from wilting of leaves, reducing rate of photosynthesis to such a low level that mortality can occur. Fungi invades xylem via infected water, blocking the vessels and prevents normal flow of water up through the tree. [17] This fungus can cause the wilting of oak leaves and eventual death. [18] Oak wilt does not currently appear to be damaging the population, but with the Southern Red Oak being seen as a species of major importance to ecosystems, efforts to prevent oak wilt are being taken. [18] In attempts to manage oak wilt, an integrated approach is adopted, combining root disruption, sanitation, and chemical application to tackle the issue. The goal of root disruption is to prevent any infected trees coming into contact with those that are healthy by root grafts. This means putting trenches, plow line or even a barrier to prevent roots of infected trees coming into contact of those that are healthy. Sanitation measures focus on removing the source of potential spread of disease, the trees that are infected. This can mean just removal of individuals who were infected or even removal of all trees that fall within the infection centre. Finally, there are chemical applications that involve application of fungicides to healthy individuals to prevent them becoming infected, or a therapeutic fungicide that cannot cure the tree but reduces intensity and onset of symptoms. Often the fungicide propiconazole is used. [19]

Cultivation

The southern red oak is cultivated in eastern United States in USDA Zone 5a to USDA Zone 9b. It can survive lows from -23°C to -28.8°C (-10°F to -20 °F) and highs of 38°C (100°F).

Uses

The southern red oak is a tree with diverse potential uses, such as for manufacturing of floors, furniture, construction materials and lumber thanks to the sturdy, durable and coarse-grained wood it provides. [20] The southern red oak is vital in the southeastern United States due to its abundance, providing around 8.1% of annual hardwood volume. [16] Southern red oak wood is used as a fuel source because of its high heat value. The southern red oak provides tannin, which is used to preserve and treat leather. The southern red oak has a large root system that provides watershed protection to reduce flood damage and soil stability. [20] Other uses for southern red oak include as shade trees and aesthetic uses in gardens. [21] Southern red oak can provide acorn mast for deer, squirrels, turkeys, song birds and quail. [20]

Related Research Articles

<i>Quercus rubra</i> Species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family Fagaceae

Quercus rubra, the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group. It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been introduced to small areas in Western Europe, where it can frequently be seen cultivated in gardens and parks. It prefers good soil that is slightly acidic. Often simply called red oak, northern red oak is so named to distinguish it from southern red oak (Q. falcata), also known as the Spanish oak. Northern Red Oak is sometimes called champion oak.

<i>Quercus montana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus montana, the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, Quercus sect. Quercus. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in southern Michigan. It is also sometimes called rock oak because of its presence in montane and other rocky habitats.

<i>Quercus alba</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as far as northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

<i>Quercus palustris</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus palustris, also called pin oak, swamp oak, or Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section of the genus Quercus. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native range due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance.

<i>Quercus muehlenbergii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinquapinoak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii is native to eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern Ontario, and in Mexico it ranges from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.

<i>Quercus velutina</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus velutina, the black oak, is a species of oak in the red oak group, native and widespread in eastern and central North America. It is sometimes called the eastern black oak.

<i>Quercus bicolor</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus bicolor, the swamp white oak, is a North American species of medium-sized trees in the beech family. It is a common element of America's north central and northeastern mixed forests. It can survive in a variety of habitats. It forms hybrids with bur oak where they occur together in the wild.

<i>Quercus cerris</i> Species of plant

Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months.

<i>Quercus macrocarpa</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus macrocarpa, the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, Quercus sect. Quercus, and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub oak. The acorns are the largest of any North American oak, and are important food for wildlife.

<i>Quercus michauxii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus michauxii, the swamp chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus section Quercus in the beech family. It is native to bottomlands and wetlands in the southeastern and midwestern United States, in coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland primarily in the Mississippi–Ohio Valley as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

<i>Quercus laurifolia</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus laurifolia is a medium-sized semi-evergreen oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the southeastern and south-central the United States.

<i>Quercus shumardii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus shumardii, the Shumard oak, spotted oak, Schneck oak, Shumard red oak, or swamp red oak, is one of the largest of the oak species in the red oak group. It is closely related to Quercus buckleyi, Quercus texana, and Quercus gravesii.

<i>Quercus coccinea</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak section Lobatae of the genus Quercus, in the family Fagaceae.

<i>Quercus ellipsoidalis</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus ellipsoidalis, the northern pin oak or Hill's oak, is a North American species of oak tree native to the north-central United States and south-central Canada, primarily in the Great Lakes region and the Upper Mississippi Valley. It most commonly occurs on dry, sandy soils.

<i>Quercus imbricaria</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus imbricaria, the shingle oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak group of oaks. It is native primarily to the Midwestern and Upper South regions of North America.

<i>Quercus lyrata</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus lyrata, the overcup oak, is an oak in the white oak group. The common name, overcup oak, refers to its acorns that are mostly enclosed within the acorn cup. It is native to lowland wetlands in the eastern and south-central United States, in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. There are historical reports of it growing in Iowa, but the species appears to have been extirpated there. It is a slow-growing tree that often takes 25 to 30 years to mature. It has an estimated lifespan of 400 years.

<i>Quercus nigra</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus nigra, the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group, native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Kentucky, and southern Missouri. It occurs in lowlands and up to 450 meters in elevation.

<i>Quercus arkansana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus arkansana, the Arkansas oak, is a species of oak tree. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is threatened by use of its habitat for pine plantations, clearing of land, and diebacks that may be caused by drought.

<i>Quercus pagoda</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus pagoda, the cherrybark oak, is one of the most highly valued red oaks in the southern United States. It is larger and better formed than southern red oak and commonly grows on more moist sites. Its strong wood and straight form make it an excellent timber tree. Many wildlife species use its acorns as food, and cherrybark oak makes a fine shade tree. Cherrybark oak was formerly considered to be a subspecies of southern red oak, Quercus falcata, subsp pagodifolia.

<i>Quercus similis</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus similis, the swamp post oak or bottomland post oak, is an oak species native to the southeastern and south-central United States. The greatest concentration of populations is in Louisiana and Arkansas, Mississippi, and eastern Texas, with isolated population in Missouri, Alabama, and the Coastal Plain of Georgia and South Carolina.

References

  1. ↑ Wenzell , K.; Kenny, L. (2015). "Quercus falcata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T194127A2301887. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T194127A2301887.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer" . Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  3. ↑ "Quercus falcata". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  4. ↑ "Southern Red Oak (Spanish Oak)". MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  6. ↑ Nixon, Kevin C. (1997). "Quercus falcata". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  7. ↑ Richman, Talia; Davis, Phil; Dance, Scott (July 24, 2017). "'It's devastating': Tornado causes extensive damage on Kent Island". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Classification | USDA PLANTS". plants.sc.egov.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  9. ↑ "Quercus falcata | International Plant Names Index". ipni.org. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  10. ↑ "Quercus falcata". oaks.of.the.world.free.fr. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  11. ↑ "Quercus falcata - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  12. ↑ "Quercus falcata". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  13. ↑ Belanger, Roger P.; Krinard, R. M. (1990). "Quercus falcata". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Hardwoods. Silvics of North America. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Vol. 2. Retrieved July 5, 2011– via Southern Research Station.
  14. ↑ Glitzenstein, Jeff; Harcombe, P. A. (1979). "Site-Specific Changes in the Bark Texture of Quercus Falcata Michx. (southern Red Oak)". American Journal of Botany. 66 (6): 668–672. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1979.tb06270.x. ISSN   1537-2197.
  15. ↑ Cain, Michael D.; Shelton, Michael G. (2011-02-09). "Survival and growth of Pinus echinata and Quercus seedlings in response to simulated summer and winter prescribed burns". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 30 (11): 1830–1836. doi:10.1139/x00-106.
  16. 1 2 Ohara, Seiji; Hemingway, Richard W. (1989-01-01). "The Phenolic Extractives in Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata Michx. var. falcata) Bark". Holzforschung. 43 (3): 149–154. doi:10.1515/hfsg.1989.43.3.149. ISSN   1437-434X. S2CID   94721295.
  17. ↑ "Oak wilt | The Morton Arboretum". www.mortonarb.org. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  18. 1 2 Arboretum), Katherine Wenzell (The Morton; Arboretum), Lisa Kenny (The Morton (2015-03-10). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Quercus falcata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. doi: 10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t194127a2301887.en . Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  19. ↑ Koch, Karrie A.; Quiram, Gina L.; Venette, Robert C. (2010-01-01). "A review of oak wilt management: A summary of treatment options and their efficacy". Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 9 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2009.11.004. ISSN   1618-8667.
  20. 1 2 3 "UF-SFRC : 4-H : Southern red oak". sfrc.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  21. ↑ "Quercus falcata Michx". www.srs.fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-01.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Quercus falcata at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.