Leaf: Alternate, simple, 4 to 10 inches long, obovate or ovate in shape with 5 to 7 bristle-tipped lobes. The upper surface is lustrous; the lower surface is pubescent in axillary tufts. Leaf shape is variable, with sun leaves having deep sinuses and shade leaves having very shallow sinuses.

Flower: Staminate flowers borne on catkins. Pistillate flowers borne on spikes. Appearing April to May.

Fruit: Acorns are 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, ovoid and 1/3 enclosed in a bowl-shaped cap. Cap scales are loosely appressed, light brown and tomentose. Matures in 2 years, August to October.

Twig: Stout and red-brown to gray-green, usually glabrous but stump sprouts may be hairy. Buds are large, buff-colored, pubescent, pointed and distinctly angular.

Bark: At first gray and smooth, becoming thick, nearly black and deeply furrowed vertically with horizontal breaks. The inner bark is yellow-orange and bitter tasting.

Form: A medium-sized tree with an irregular crown and a tapering, limby bole.

Copyright (c) 2000, 2001 Pee Dee Resource Conservation and Development Council.
This page was last updated on August 31, 2001.

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