White oak |
| General |
| Common Name | White oak |
| Latin Name | Quercus alba |
| Category | Nuts |
| Family | Oak |
| Variety | |
| Visual Traits |
| Flower | yellow-green and red, monoecious, early spring to late May, at or shortly after leaves unfold |
| Foliage/Fall leaf color | burgundy, persist until Jan |
| Fruit / Nut | ripen Sep-Oct, turn from green to brown; mature 120days after pollination and drop 25 days later |
| Height | 50-80 (100) ft |
| Other valued traits | lumber |
| Spread | 75-100ft |
| Cultivation |
| Field spacing / planting depth | direct seed 8-10" apart or broadcast and covered with firm layer 1/4" |
| Pollination | pollen shed to 3days after flowering; best fruit set f weather is dry for 10days during flower period, esp if follwed by cool period |
| Propagation method | Seed, B+B, Bare Root, low stump spouts, seedling sprouts |
| Pruning | natural pruning usually sufficient, epicormic branching possible with heavy release |
| Seed harvest | ripen Sep-Oct, turn from green to brown; mature 120days after pollination and drop 25 days later |
| Seed treatment and storage | seed moisture contenct must not fall below 30-50%, no treatement necessary |
| Seedling treatment | require 35% canopy light penetration to persist |
| Sowing seed | germinate upon drop Sep-Oct; root growth continues until cold weather interruption, optimum temperature 50-60?F, loose soil or humus |
| Transplant | spring; not after first year; ball and burlap |
| Watering guidelines | moisture not critical at time of germination |
| Critters |
| Insect and invertebrate pests | many insect pests, problematic at epidemic levels; wood borers |
| Pathogens | oak wilt (Ceratocystis fagacearum) destructive, heartrot from fire damage; many disease agents, few threatening |
| Wildlife Pests | deer |
| Soils |
| Compaction (tolerance) | extremely sensitive to compaction and grade change |
| Fertility / quality | wide range |
| Minerals | limiting only on dry, sandy sites |
| Moisture and drainage | prefers moist, tolerates dry, flood intolerant |
| pH | 5.5-6.5 |
| Salt tolerance | moderately tolerant |
| Soils and topography | wide range of slopes and aspects, excepting dry or shallow uplands, or poorly drained bottomlands; seldom found above 500ft in northern part of range |
| Texture | wide range; prefers coarse and deep, but natural stands occur on clays and loams |
| Growth Pattern |
| Good seed crop interval (fruit load) | 4-10y, variation among and within stands |
| Growth rate | slow |
| Longevity | long |
| Root habit | deep taproot and developing more fibrous lateral roots during growth, root grafts common |
| Seed-bearing age /max production | (20) 50y / 200y |
| Habitat and Climate |
| Fire tolerance | intolerant |
| Frost-free days (FFD) | 5-9mos |
| Hardiness Zone | 3b-9 |
| Native Range | Eastern United States |
| Rainfall / humidity | wide variety of tolerance across range; average 40" in optimum range |
| Wind / ice / frost susceptibility | moderately resistant to ice breakage |
| Light |
| Light recommendation | full sun |
| Shade tolerance | moderately shade tolerant, becoming less tolerant with age; responds well to release |
| Vegetation Associations |
| Competitive ability | competitive, persistent; climax tree |
| Indicator species and associated forest | mixed hardwood, especially oak-hickory upland |