Organic Forest Plants & More

White Oak (Quercus alba)

Trees and Shrubs

Zones

: 3 - 9

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Tree

Mature Size: Height: 100 ft. Height at 25 ft. Diameter: 3 - 4 (- 6) ft.

Flowers: late March - late May

Fruit (acorns): Summer - Fall (acorns fall from September - October)

Common alternate names for White Oak: stone oak, stave oak, ridge white oak, forked-leaf white oak, forked-leaf oak.

Scientific name for White Oak: Quercus alba L.

Planting Information: 

White oak grows best on coarse, deep, moist, well-drained, loamy, and slightly acid soils. It is well adapted to heavy soils and north and east-facing slopes.

White oak grows best in full sun to partial shade.

White oak is generally classified as intermediate in its tolerance to shade. Its tolerance decreases as a tree becomes older and larger. Thinning combined with fertilization can boost diameter growth. White oak usually becomes dominant because of its ability to persist for long periods of time in the understory, its ability to respond well after thinning, and its great longevity. Even-aged silviculture is most suitable if oaks are growing in pure or mixed hardwood stands. Reducing both overstory and understory competition is likely to accelerate the growth of seedlings.

Colors: Leaves: deciduous, purplish-red to violet-purple in fall. Flowers: yellow. Acorns: chestnut-brown, inconspicuous.

Edible - food uses of White Oak:

Acorns were traditionally an important food source for many Native American peoples.  White oak acorns have been described variously as sweet and edible and as slightly bitter.  The acorns were often boiled to remove  bitter tannins.

Healing medicinal qualities of White Oak: 

Several Native American tribes used the bark of white oak for a variety of medicinal uses. These uses include: cough medicine, emetic, antiseptic, dermatological aid, gastrointestinal aid, oral aid, respiratory aid, and a tonic.

Oils obtained from pressed acorns were used to alleviate pain in the joints.

Other uses for White Oak:

Timber: White oak’s wood is strong and durable for staves for barrels, lumber, flooring, and interior woodwork. It is prized for use in construction of ships and boats.

Ornamental: White oak is sometimes planted as an ornamental tree because of its broad round crown, dense foliage, and purplish-red to violet-purple fall coloration. It is less favored than red oak because it is difficult to transplant and has a slow growth rate.

Reforestation: White oak is potentially valuable for use in reforestation projects and appears to have potential  for use on other types of disturbed sites. It has been planted on strip-mined lands in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois
and has exhibited good growth and survival on cast overburden and graded topsoil overlying mine spoils.

Wildlife:

This tree's acorns are a valuable though inconsistent source of wildlife food. More than 180 different kinds of birds and mammals use oak acorns as food; among them are squirrels, blue jays, crows, red-headed woodpeckers, deer, turkey, quail, mice, chipmunks, ducks, and raccoons. White oak twigs and foliage are browsed by deer especially in clearcuts less than 6 years old.

White oak is a host plant for the duskywing buttefly.

General description and characteristics of White Oak:

White oak (Quercus alba) is an outstanding tree among all trees and is widespread across eastern North America. The most important lumber tree of the white oak group, growth is good on all but the driest shallow soils. Its high-grade wood is useful for many things, an important one being staves for barrels, hence the name stave oak. The acorns are an important food for many kinds of wildlife.

White oak is a long-lived, slow-growing tree, reaching 60 to 100 feet in height with a spread of 50 to 90 feet in its native bottomland soil. Old specimens can be massive, growing to be several hundred years old. Since trunks can be six feet in diameter leave plenty of room for this tree in the landscape. The trunk flares out at the base lifting sidewalks and curbing if planted in tree lawns less than eight feet wide. The red fall color is fairly reliable year to year and is outstanding among the Oaks in USDA hardiness zones 8a and colder areas. Brown leaves may be held on the tree into the early part of the winter.

White oak is the state tree of Maryland, Illinois, and Connecticut.