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Compare sources for Quercus muehlenbergii

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Field
Oak Compendium
Oaks of the World
The Sibley Guide to Trees
Common Names
Chinkapin Oak
chinkapin, yellow chestnut oak, chinquapin oak, yellow oak
Common Chinkapin Oak, Chestnut Oak, Yellow Oak, Chinkapin Oak
Geographic Range

Eastern and Central USA; Canada; NE Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas); 0 to 2300 m; introduced in Europe in 1822;

Growth Habit

reaches 15-30 m tall; crown narrow, tip rounded; shrubby in the northern part of its area;

Deciduous. Small to medoium tree often 50’.

Leaves

6-12 x 3-9 cm; deciduous; thin but leathery; oboval to oblanceolate; apex acute or acuminate; base cuneate or truncate; margin slightly revolute with 4-11 pairs of shallow lobes, pointed but not spinny; shiny green, glabrescent above; whitish green, hairy beneath (scattered stellate hairs and some glandular ones), then glaucous and greyish when drying; 7-12 pairs of lateral veins, parallel, straight, slightly impressed above, raised beneath; epidermis papillose; petiole yellow, hairless or nearly so, 1-2 cm long;

  • 5”
  • usually small, with jagged teeth but some are indistiguishable from michauxii and montana
  • underleaf whitish or tan, densely hairy
Fruits (Acorns)

acorn 2 cm long, ovoid; dark brown to black; stalkless or nearly so; singly or paired; enclosed 1/2 or 1/3 by the grey tomentose cup; maturing in 1 year in September; cotyledons distinct;

  • 3/4”
  • cup scales thin, tight, covering 1/3 - 1/2 nut
Flowers

late winter, early spring; male inflorescence 4-6 cm; female inflorescence 0.5-2 cm bearing 1-3 flowers;

Hardiness & Habitat
  • Uncommon and local in dry uplands; on clay and limestone soils on bluffs in FL
  • Uncommonly cultivated but tolerant of a varied settings
  • Zones 5-7
Additional Information

– A. Camus : n° 192 ; – Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Subsection Prinoideae; – Henry E. Muehlenberg (1753-1815) was a botanist from Pennsylvania;