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Post Oak
Quercus stellata
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© Priscilla Crawford, Oklahoma Natural Areas Registry
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Family: Fagaceae (oaks and beeches) Small or medium-sized tree to 20m (65 ft) tall and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. Bark light gray, fissured, scaly. Leaves variable in size and shape, 10-20 cm (4-8 in) long, broadly or narrowly obovate, usually 5-lobed with the upper pair of lobes broad and blunt, glabrous above and brownish-downy below. Stellate hairs are present on the lower surface of leaves and on the young twigs. Acorn cup deeply saucer-shaped and fine-scaled, about 1/3 to 1/2 as high as the ovoid acorn. Distribution: The species is found from the Gulf Coast north to Massachusetts, west to southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Habitat: dry upland to well-drained floodplain. Comment: Post oak is a major component of the Cross Timbers vegetation type of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Quercus is the ancient classical name for the European oaks; stellata refers to the dense covering of stellate hairs on the leaves and young twigs. From the Catalog of the Woody Plants of Oklahoma by Johnson & Hoagland. |
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