Organic Forest Plants & More

Black Oak (Quercus velutina)

Trees and Shrubs

Price: $ + FREE Shipping (Shipping Details)

Availability: No - NOT Currently Available

Approximate Shipped Size: 1' - 2'

Zones: 3 - 9

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Tree

Mature Size: Height: 90 ft. Height at 20 years: 25 ft. Diameter: 3+ ft.

Flowers: April - May

Fruit: August - October

Common alternate names for Black Oak: yellow oak, quercitron, quercitron oak, yellowbark oak, smoothbark oak.

Scientific name for Black Oak: Quercus velutina Lam.

Planting Information: 

Black oak grows best in moist, rich, well drained soils.

Black oak grows best in full sun.

Colors: Leaves: deciduous, broad, yellow to red in fall. Flowers: yellow. Acorns: brown, small. Old Bark: thick, black, ridged.

Edible - food uses of Black Oak:

Lakota indians used the acorns to make flour.

Healing medicinal qualities of Black Oak: 

Several Native American tribes used black oak bark for a variety of medicinal purposes. These include use as an eye medicine, cold remedy, dermatological aid, gastrointestinal aid, febrifuge, hoarseness remedy, oral aid, tonic, and pulmonary aid.

Other uses for Black Oak:

Timber: The wood of black oak, which is light brown with a nearly white sapwood, is sold as "red oak" and used for furniture, flooring, and interior finishing.  It is also used for barrels and railroad ties.

Ornamental: Black oak is not extensively planted as an ornamental, but its fall color contributes greatly to the esthetic value of oak forests.

Dye: The bark of black oak contains enough tannin to make commercial extraction worthwhile.  A yellow dye, suitable for coloring natural fibers, can be obtained by boiling the inner bark.

Wildlife:

Black oak acorns are an important food for squirrels, white-tail deer, mice, voles, turkeys, and other birds. In Illinois, fox squirrels have been observed feeding on black oak catkins.

Black oak has a high cavity value for wildlife.

General description and characteristics of Black Oak:

Black oak (Quercus velutina) is one of the commonest oaks of the dry gravelly uplands in eastern forests, often a large portion of the stands in the Appalachian foothills. It grows best on moist, rich, well-drained soils, but it is often found on poor, dry sandy or heavy glacial clay hillsides where it seldom lives more than 200 years.

Black oak is a medium- to large-sized, native, deciduous tree with an irregularly rounded crown.   In a forest, the trunk is usually branch-free for half the height of the tree.  Individuals may live 150 to  200 years.  On good sites, black oak may reach 150 feet in height and 48 inches in diameter breast height,  but most trees are 60 to 80 feet tall and 24 to 36 inches in diameter breast height. Black oak has a deep  taproot and deep and widespreading lateral roots.