North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Quercus falcata

Quercus falcata Michx.

southern red oak, spanish oak

Synonym(s): Quercus falcata var. triloba, Quercus triloba

Image ID: 16576
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: QUFA
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Quercus falcata
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-11-29

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: QUERC
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Quercus
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Oak
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 350-530 species, trees and shrubs, of temperate, subtropical, and rarely tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Oaks are the predominant tree of our area, with a variety of species dominating much of the landscape in nearly every ecological situation. Only in a few specialized (and usually in some sense edaphically extreme) communities are oaks generally entirely absent: deepest Coastal Plain swamps, some Coastal Plain depression ponds, wettest pine savannas, pocosins, spruce-fir forests, highest elevation northern hardwood forests, and mountain bogs.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Many oak species are well-adapted to ecological situations in which fires frequently burn the ground layer. Fire-maintained communities of the Piedmont and Mountains typically have oaks such as Q. stellata, Q. marilandica var. marilandica, Q. ilicifolia, and Q. prinoides. The two latter species are normally shrubby, and have become rarer because of fire suppression (they require fire to prevent larger trees from outcompeting them). In contrast, Q. stellata and Q. marilandica var. marilandica become larger and more frequent in fire-suppressed conditions.
GENUS REFERENCES: Nixon in FNA (1997) (overall treatment); Jensen in FNA (1997) (red oaks); Nixon & Muller in FNA (1997) (white oaks); Godfrey (1988); Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti (2003); Cronquist (1991); Duncan & Duncan (1988); Hunt (1990)=Z; Hunt (1994); Kubitzki in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: FAGACE
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Fagaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1829
FAMILY COMMON: Beech Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 8 genera and 620-1050 species, trees and shrubs, mostly of the Northern Hemisphere, but extending into se. Asia and Australia.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Nixon in FNA (1997); Govaerts & Frodin (1998); Kubitzki in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Elias (1971a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS: Pith continuous. Young twigs (1-year-old or less) brown or gray or reddish-brown, (1–)1.5–3.5(–4.5) mm wide, glabrate or pubescent, tomentose. Twigs (2–4 years old) glabrate. Leaf scars half-round, bundle scars numerous, stipule scars inconspicuous, stipule scars not circumferential. Bark of mature trunks flaky or furrowed or ridged. Buds axillary or terminal, bud clusters at ends of twigs present, brown or reddish-brown, 3–8 mm long, ovoid, sharp, glabrate or pubescent, puberulent, bud scales imbricate.
LEAVES: Leaves deciduous, simple, petiolate, alternate or spiral, 10–23(–30) cm long, 5–16 cm wide, elliptic or oblong or obovate or oval or ovate, leaf margins dentate, shallowly lobed or moderately lobed or deeply lobed, pinnately lobed, leaf lobes 3–9 per leaf, leaf apices acuminate or acute or apiculate, leaf bases cuneate or rounded or truncate. Leaf upper surface green, glabrous or pubescent, puberulent. Leaf lower surface gray or green or tan or white, glabrate or pubescent, tomentose. Leaf venation pinnate, upper surface venation distinctly raised. Petioles 1–6 cm long, glabrate or pubescent, tomentose. Stipules present, caducous, scarious, not circumferential.
INFLORESCENCE: Inflorescences axillary, catkins or flowers solitary or spikes, flowers sessile.
FLOWERS: Flowers unisexual, epigynous. Perianth. Calyx radially symmetric, synsepalous. Sepals (2–)6(–8) per flower, caducous. Corolla absent. Androecium. Stamens (2–)6(–12) per flower, separate. Gynoecium. Ovaries inferior, pistils 1 per flower. Gynoecium syncarpous, 3 carpels per flower, styles 3 per pistil, placentation axile. Other floral features. Hypanthia present, involucres present.
FRUITS: Fruits accessory fruits or acorns or nuts, 0.9–1.6 cm long, brown, fruit maturation 2 years.
COMMENTS: Staminate flowers in pendent catkins, pistillate flowers solitary or in few- to many-flowered spikes; pistillate flowers enclosed by a scaly involucre which develops into the acorn cup.
HEIGHT: (15–)20–30(–40) m tall.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Tree

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Deciduous

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: March or April or May.

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD: Sep-Nov (of the second year).

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Dry forests, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
707	1985-0355			View
3754	1991-0449			View
4475	1992-0631			View
4981	1995-0099			View
5174	1995-0293			View
5648	1995-0772			View
6264	1995-1396			View
8701	2006-0355	2006-10-31		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
1408	707	153	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
1409	707	159	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
1410	707	177	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6061	3754	199	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6803	4475	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7400	4981	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7619	5174	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7620	5174	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8162	5648	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8919	6264	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11927	8701	84	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: QUFA
USDA Common Name: Southern Red Oak
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Tree

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				FACU	FACU		FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Quercus falcata
COMMON NAME: Spanish Oak, Southern Red Oak
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, K, Mo, Pa, Va, W, WH3, WV; = Q. falcata var. falcata - G, GW, RAB; > Q. falcata var. falcata - F; > Q. falcata var. triloba (Michaux) Nuttall - F; = Q. rubra - S, misapplied; ? Q. digitata Sudworth; > Q. triloba Michaux]
PHENOLOGY: Apr; Sep-Nov (of the second year).
HABITAT: Upland forests, usually xeric or submesic, but occasionally in mesic situations.
COMMENTS: Widespread in se. North America, north to e. OK, s. MO, s. IL, s. IN, s. OH, WV, se. PA, NJ, and reported (apparently without specimen documentation) from Long Island, NY. Q. triloba Michaux, the form with the leaves only shallowly trilobed at the apex, can cause confusion. Though even medium-sized trees sometimes have leaves only of this form (rather than the typical form, deeply 5-7-lobed, the terminal lobe long-attenuate and falcate), it has no taxonomic merit.
RANGE MAP: Quercus falcata.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Fagaceae Dumortier 1829 (Beech Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 8 genera and 620-1050 species, trees and shrubs, mostly of the Northern Hemisphere, but extending into se. Asia and Australia.
REFERENCE: Nixon in FNA (1997); Govaerts & Frodin (1998); Kubitzki in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Elias (1971a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Quercus L. (Oak)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 350-530 species, trees and shrubs, of temperate, subtropical, and rarely tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Oaks are the predominant tree of our area, with a variety of species dominating much of the landscape in nearly every ecological situation. Only in a few specialized (and usually in some sense edaphically extreme) communities are oaks generally entirely absent: deepest Coastal Plain swamps, some Coastal Plain depression ponds, wettest pine savannas, pocosins, spruce-fir forests, highest elevation northern hardwood forests, and mountain bogs.
REFERENCE: Nixon in FNA (1997) (overall treatment); Jensen in FNA (1997) (red oaks); Nixon & Muller in FNA (1997) (white oaks); Godfrey (1988); Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti (2003); Cronquist (1991); Duncan & Duncan (1988); Hunt (1990)=Z; Hunt (1994); Kubitzki in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Quercus falcata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Quercus falcata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Quercus falcata in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Quercus falcata in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Quercus falcata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Quercus falcata

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 16576 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 16576 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 16574 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 4428 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)