Also called ♒︎ swamp Spanish oak, although do not confuse with sister-species
pin oak Quercus palustris,
which is also sometimes called that.
In 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 North America, do not confuse with similar-named sister-species
◼︎ northern red oak Quercus rubra,
both among the
◼︎ red oaks.
Part of
oak genus Quercus
in
beech / oak family Fagaceae
in
bayberry / beech / birch / oak / walnut order Fagales.
Native to 🇺🇸 USA South, Ohio River Valley, 🗻︎ Appalachian Mountains, mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
🗺 Map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48)
(color key),
🗺 map (North America, Central America),
🗺 today + with climate change (eastern 🇺🇸 USA).
In these areas:
due to possible infestation by
oak wilt disease (OWD) Bretziella fagacearum.
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
♧🌰︎☠︎ Leaves and acorns toxic[?] to humans,
although many cultures process acorns to remove their tannins, making acorns an important staple food.
Quercus hosts caterpillars of 534 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
This plant is also known to be a host for (in areas where invasive)
🐝︎ spotted lanternfly (SLF) Lycorma delicatula.
If your oak is growing a few meters (yards) from a potential parent tree, its 🌰︎ acorn probably fell there, or was cached and forgotten by a
squirrel family Sciuridae.
If your oak is growing a kilometer (mile) away from a potential parent tree, its 🌰︎ acorn probably was cached and forgotten by a
🐦︎ jay family Corvidae,
with whom it coevolved.
— That and lots more interesting information in interview
"Our Most Essential Trees: The Nature of Oaks, with Doug Tallamy" The joe gardener Show.
or its
🔊︎ audio