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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 71: SPANISH OAK
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

SPANISH OAK

Quercus falcata, Michx.

Form.—Height 60-80 feet, diameter 2-3 feet; crown round-topped.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 6-7 inches long; variable in shape, with 3-7 toothed bristle pointed lobes, terminal lobes often elongated and falcate, dark green and lustrous above, paler and downy beneath.

Flowers.—April-May, with the leaves; monoecious; staminate flowers in long catkins, the pistillate on short hairy stalks.

Fruit.—Acorns mature the second autumn after flowering; cup hemispheric, ½-¾ inch across, reddish-brown inside and with reddish, pale, pubescent scales; nut ½ inch long, ovoid, pale orange-brown.

Bark.—On trunks with shallow fissures and brownish scaly ridges.

Wood.—Hard, strong, not durable, coarse-grained, reddish with light sapwood.

Range.—New Jersey to Florida and west to Missouri and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Confined, as far as known, to a few trees on the north side of Great Kanawha River near Charleston.

Habitat.—Dry soil.

Notes.—This tree, which is rare in West Virginia, must be listed in the class of unimportant trees. Its wood is comparatively inferior and it is less desirable for ornamental purposes than many other species.