Quercus bicolor

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Quercus bicolor
SWAMP WHITE OAK

Fagaceae
N.E. North America

Location: map coordinates K-4 (on Loop Road, west of retention pond), N 39°11'12'' W 75°32'48''

Planting history: probably planted with new Loop Road ca 2000. Source probably (Terrain at) Styers (nursery), PA.

Description:
  • medium-sized to large deciduous tree
  • etymology: Quercus = the Latin name; bicolor = 2-colored (the leaf)
  • leaves simple, alternate; with 6-10 pairs of coarse round teeth; broadest above middle, and tapering to the tip; often whitened beneath
  • monoecious (separate male and female flowers on same tree); flowers tiny; male flowers in drooping catkins, female flowers inconspicuous
  • fruit is an acorn (develops from ovary of female flower); on a long stem
  • in the “white oak group”: leaf lobes rounded (although sometimes sharp in this species); acorn matures in 1 year, often relatively sweet and edible
  • end buds clustered (typical of oaks)
  • habitat swamps, floodplains; hence common name (also sometimes called swamp oak)

Native species, State Rank: S4 (common, but not very common) on the coastal plain; S1 (extremely rare, and of conservation concern) on the piedmont, in Delaware
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