Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus
Section: Quercus (white oaks)
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus bicolor
FAMILY
Fagaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read Edible Wild Plants: Oak from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
The ‘bicolor’ in its scientific/botanical name refers to the difference between the dark green and glossy top surface and the much lighter, silvery-white undersides of its leaves. Read more at Southern Piedmont Natural History.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus bicolor
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Quercus bicolor
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-006:
Quercus bicolor FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus bicolor
COMMON NAME:
Swamp White Oak
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p30
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_335
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_qubi_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_qubi_004_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_bicolor
January
Bark grayish, scaly or with thick scaly ridges, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_bicolor_bark_1
August
Chattahoochee Nature Center
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_bicolor_fruit
August
Chattahoochee Nature Center
Acorn cup covering 1/2-3/4 of nut, scales slightly elongate-tipped near rim, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_q_bicolor_lvs_3
August
Chattahoochee Nature Center
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_quercus_bicolor_0447
October Hamilton County TN
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_quercus_bicolor_0448
October Hamilton County TN
A white oak to 60-70' tall with an open, rounded crown, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_quercus_bicolor_0450
October Hamilton County TN
Leaves w a velvety white underside are one of its distinguishing features, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus bicolor
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus bicolor
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Quercus bicolor
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-006:
Quercus bicolor
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Quercus bicolor
1182
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Bottomland swamps and wet forests with calcareous sediments, upland depression swamp forests over mafic rocks such as gabbro or diabase, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, 5-ranked
FLOWER:
Spring
Staminate calyx 2-8 lobed, pistillate calyx 6-lobed
Petals absent
3-12 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
Staminate flowers in clustered drooping catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Acorn
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p316
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p204
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p014
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p165
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p279
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p22
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p266
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".