Quercus alba L. - Accepted: Quercus alba L. bei The Plant List (2014), version 1.1; Familie: Fagaceae (APG III)

Color of flower

male (staminate) flowers yellowish, female (pistillate) flowers reddish

Flowers

monoecious; flowers in catkins

Flower ecology

wind-pollinated (anemophilous)

Life form

tree

Leaves

violet-purple foliage in autumn

Foliage persistence

deciduous

Fruits

short-stalked, glabrous acorns with warty cupule

Fruit ecology

zoochorous (by blue jays, grey squirrels and formerly by pigeons), anemochorous and barochorous

Soil conditions

common on rocky soils

Root type

taproot

Natural occurrence (habitat)

rich uplands, moist bottomlands, along streams, hammocks, sinks, sandy plains, gravelly slopes, coves, pine-oak-hickory woods, beech-maple forests, mixed deciduous forests, oak savannas (with post oak and bur oak)

Vegetation typ and synecology (plant community)

temperate, mesophytic broad-leaved deciduous and mixed forests and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Constraints according radiation (light)

not shade tolerant

Constraints according habitat

moderately resistant to fire

Life span

long-lived tree (up to 600 years)

Usage

as ornamental tree; wood is currently used for furniture, veneer, staves of barrels (especially for whiskey barrels), flooring, paneling and interior woodwork; oils obtained from pressed acorns were used to alleviate joint pain; wood was used for railroad ties, fence posts, mine timbers, ships, and caskets; due to high fuel value very suitable as firewood

Bark

light grey bark

Erhardt, W., Götz, E., Bödeker, N. & Seybold, S. (2008): Der große Zander. Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. Band 2. Arten und Sorten. Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart (Hohenheim), 18. Aufl., 2103 S.;

Global Biodiversity Information Facilty (GBIF). Online Publication: www.gbif.org;

The International Plant Names Index (2009). Published on the Internet http://www.ipni.org; Courtesy to IPNI, 2009. Exported from IPNI at date: 2009-09-22 20:17:51;

Tirmenstein, D. A. (1991): Quercus alba. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). See: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/quealb/all.html;