Quercus nigra
water oak
Water oak is a rapid growing tree. Leaves of a mature water oak are usually spatula-shaped while leaves of immature saplings can be long and narrow (see examples on plate below). Many describe the leaf as looking like a duck's foot. Q. nigra can be described as "nearly evergreen" as some green leaves will cling to the tree through the winter. Water oak has strikingly smooth bark.
Start with the Tree Finder if you are not sure what kind of tree you have!
Water
Oak Habitat and Culture
(silvics courtesy of Silvics Manual, USFS)
Fire
Effects On Water Oak
(courtesy of U.S. Forest Service, Fire Effects)
From
Virginia Tech w/Photos
(Big List courtesy of VT Dendrology)
North American Timber Types
(courtesy About Forestry)
The Great American
Hardwood Forest
(courtesy About Forestry)
Recent Champion: 120' height, 111' spread, 278" circumf.,
Concordia Parish, Louisiana
National Register of Big
Trees
Oak
Wood Tech Sheet
(fact sheet courtesy of USFS in .pdf)
Tree
and Oak Images
(courtesy of ForestryImages.org)
Historic
Oak Images
(courtesy of University of Chicago and the Library of Congress)
Buy a
Water Oak Online
(Nurseries selling seedlings online)
Range Map
-The native range of water oak, USFS.
Quick Stats
Common Names: possum oak or spotted oak.
Habitat: Commonly found along southeastern watercourses and lowlands on silty clay
and loamy soils.
Description: This medium-sized rapid-growing tree is often abundant as second growth
on cutover lands.
Uses: planted widely as a street and shade tree in southern communities.
