Arkansas Tree Database

Scientific name:

Quercus Alba

Size:

75' tall by 55' wide, up to 100' tall by 120' wide

Leaves:

alternate, simple, 5"-9" inches long, largest of any oak, with 5-9 deep finger-like lobes, with no bristles on tips; dull blue-green above and pale beneath

Flowers:

inconspicuous

Fruit:

large acorn, light brown, 1/4 to 1/3 enclosed by bowl-shaped cup, maturing the first season on the current year's twig

Fall Interest:

dull deep red to exceptional maroon; deciduous

Culture:

sun to partial sun; rich, deep soil, but tolerant of dry to moist

Disease/Insect:

Use:

ornamental shade tree; highest quality lumber of the oaks, second only to walnut in value; tight cooperage, flooring, interior finish, furniture, split oak baskets

Cultivars:

Notes:

bark ashy gray or grayish white with shallow grooves and flat loose scaly ridges; large limbs and branches scaly; white oaks and others in white oak group produce acorns on current year's shoots, and the acorns ripen in their first year; can live 500 years or more; Native Americans made a bread from the ground acorns and used the bark medicinally; butterfly larval host; native to Arkansas