- Turkey oak trees
- A stand of turkey oaks growing on white sand near the banks of the Ocmulgee River in the state of Georgia
Quercus laevis | |
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American turkey oak foliage | |
Scientific classification | |
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. laevis |
Binomial name | |
Quercus laevis | |
Quercus laevis native range | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Quercus laevis, the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the southeastern United States. The name turkey oak derives from the resemblance of the leaves to a turkey's foot. [3] A Turkish and southern European species Quercus cerris is also commonly referred to as Turkey oak, so Quercus laevis is sometimes referred to as American turkey oak to distinguish it from the European species.
Quercus laevis is a small tree, sometimes shrubby, typically only 8–10 meters (26–33 feet) tall, though occasionally reaching 28 m (92 ft). The leaves are variable in size, mostly 10–17 centimeters (4–6+3⁄4 inches) long but occasionally just 8 cm (3+1⁄4 in) or as much as 30 cm (12 in) long. They have 3–7 slender lobes, deeply incised between the lobes, each lobe with 1–3 bristle teeth at the tip. The leaves turn red in Autumn. The acorns are about 20–25 millimeters (3⁄4–1 in) long, and, like other red oaks, take 18 months to mature. [4]
Turkey oak occurs on the coastal plain from Virginia south to southwestern Florida, and west to southeast Louisiana, where it mingles with many tropical trees such as mature coconut palms and large Cuban Laurel ( Ficus ) trees. [5] [6]
It typically grows on poor, thin, dry, rocky or sandy soils where few other oaks other than blackjack oak (Q. marilandica) can thrive. It does not have the beautiful crown form of many oaks, but is nonetheless a valuable tree for growing on infertile, dry, sandy sites. The deeply lobed leaves are also attractive. It associates as an understory tree with longleaf pine and other pine stands on sandy knolls in the southeastern United States.
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.
Quercus marilandica, the blackjack oak, is a small oak, one of the red oak group Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the eastern and central United States.
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.
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.
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.
Quercus stellata, the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to rot, fire, and drought. Interbreeding occurs among white oaks, thus many hybrid species combinations occur. It is identifiable by the rounded cross-like shape formed by the leaf lobes and hairy underside of the leaves.
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.
Quercus falcata, also called southern red oak, spanish oak, bottomland red oak or three-lobed red oak is an oak. 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. 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.
Quercus gambelii, with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak.
Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak section Lobatae of the genus Quercus, in the family Fagaceae.
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.
Quercus acutissima, the sawtooth oak, is an Asian species of oak native to China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Indochina and the Himalayas. It is widely planted in many lands and has become naturalized in parts of North America.
Castanea pumila, commonly known as the Allegheny chinquapin, American chinquapin or dwarf chestnut, is a species of chestnut native to the southeastern United States. The native range is from Massachusetts and New York to Maryland and extreme southern New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania south to central Florida, west to eastern Texas, and north to southern Missouri and Kentucky. The plant's habitat is dry sandy and rocky uplands and ridges mixed with oak and hickory to 1000 m elevation. It grows best on well-drained soils in full sun or partial shade.
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.
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.
Quercus hemisphaerica is a species of oak native to the southeastern and south-central United States. It is in the red oak section of Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is often confused with and closely related to Quercus laurifolia, from which it differs in several key characteristics.
Quercus ilicifolia, commonly known as bear oak or scrub oak, is a small shrubby oak native to the Eastern United States and, less commonly, in southeastern Canada. Its range in the United States extends from Maine to North Carolina, with reports of a few populations north of the international frontier in Ontario. The name ilicifolia means "holly-leaved."
Quercus chapmanii, commonly referred to as the Chapman oak, is a species of oak that grows in the southeastern United States.
Quercus incana is a species of oak known by the common names bluejack oak, upland willow oak, sandjack oak, and cinnamon oak. It is native to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States, from Virginia around Florida to Texas and inland to Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Quercus myrtifolia, the myrtle oak, is a North American species of oak. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is often found in coastal areas on sandy soils.