#Quercus michauxii

[rjalker]

Kairiz "helping" me take pictures of seeds I collected

Jumping up onto the couch right as I took a picture with flash on:

[ID: A flash photo of a grey cat tilting his head back to look up at the camera, his eyes reflecting bright yellow with green pupils. Below him in the shadowy background are plates and baskets with various acorns and nuts on them. End ID.]

Deciding he wants the exact acorn I am holding right as I take the picture:

[ID: A photo of a white hand holding four types of acorns: Live oak, which is the smallest, being long and skinny, with a shiny black shell that is tan where the cap was. Shumard oak, which is large and boxy, brown, and covered with a light grey dusting. Swamp chestnut oak, which is the largest, shiny deep brown, tall and fat. And overcup oak, which is round, and still covered by its thin, bumpy cap. A grey cat's paw is dragging the overcup acorn off the hand, claws extended to catch onto the cap. End ID.]

And sticking his face directly in the way:

[ID: A flash photo of the back of a grey cat's head as he sniffs a purple organza bag filled with large dark acorns, blocking most of the view with his head and ears. End ID.]

outdoor cat people DNI, you'll just be blocked. We care about pets and the environment here, honoric of your choice. Keeping cats outdoors is animal abuse and causing more native species to go extinct.

Keep your cats inside so they can "help" you catalogue the different species in your area by playing with everything you bring home, instead of bringing you dead native birds.

[that-crazy-scorpio-man]

Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii)

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

The conclusion that my fb plant id group came to is that this must be Q. michauxii. Reasons include the shape of the base of the leaves (compare to the flats attachment of Q. montana, pictured below) and the fact that lower leaves are often wider than higher "typical" leaves.

Plant friends, can anyone positively id this oak? This is central North Carolina, USA, pictures taken a couple days ago. It grows on a high bank by the river.

Candidates I came up with are are Quercus montana (chestnut oak), Q. michauxii (swamp chestnut oak), and Q. meuhlenbergii (chinkapin oak). I'm open to others, of course, as these all seem wrong.

Q. montana was my first thought, and I still think the leaves look like that, but the bark is entirely wrong, both in comparison with reference photos and with other locals specimens I've seen in person. For Q. michauxii, the leaves seem wrong, in both texture/shininess and width. Q. meuhlenbergii seems the least likely, as it should have pointed leaf lobes and shouldn't naturally occur in this county (though it being planted at this location is possible).

[missouri-witchcraft]

Oak Correspondences & Associations

This is the only post y'all are getting today because oak was a pain in the butt to write down EVERYTHING for.

Like with the other categories of trees we've covered, there are many oak species that can be found in Missouri, such as the following white oaks:

quercus alba (white oak)

quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)

quercus lyata (overcup oak)

quercus macrocarpa (blue/bur/burr/mossycup/mossycup white/scrub oak)

quercus michauxii (swamp chestnut oak)

quercus muehlenbergii (chinkapin oak, chinkapin)

quercus prinoides (dwarf chestnut/dwarf chinkapin/dwarf chinquapin/scrub chestnut oak)

quercus stellata (iron/post oak)

And the following red oaks:

quercus acutissima (sawtooth oak)

quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)

quercus falcata (bottomland red/southern red/spanish/three-lobed red oak)

quercus imbricaria (shingle oak)

quercus marilandica (blackjack oak)

quercus nigra (water oak)

quercus pagoda (cherrybark oak)

quercus palustris (pin/swamp spanish oak)

quercus phellos (willow oak)

quercus rubra (champion/northern red/red oak)

quercus shumardii (schneck/shumard/shumard red/spotted/swamp red oak)

quercus texana (nuttall/nuttall's oak)

quercus velutina (black/eastern black oak)

And there are probably way more! But I am tired of looking at Latin oak names and there's way more we have to cover in this post!

ASSOCIATIONS

Animals

bee

boar

chameleon

cicada

horse (white)

oriole

wolf

woodpecker

wren

Comets & Planets

Jupiter [especially acorns]

Mars [red]

Moon [white]

Sun [especially wood]

Deities & Figures

Aegir (Norse)

Angrboda (Norse)

Apollo (Greek)

Ares (Greek)

Artemis (Greek)

Asherah (Semitic)

Athena (Greek)

Baldr (Norse)

Bilé (Irish)

Brahma (Hindu)

Brigid (Irish)

Ceres (Greek)

Cernunnos (Gaulish)

Cerridwen (Welsh)

Cybele (Anatolian)

the Dagda (Irish)

Demeter (Greek)

Diana (Roman)

Dôn (Welsh)

Donar (Germanic, Saxon)

Erato (Greek)

Fortuna (Roman)

Green Man

Hades (Greek)

Hekate (Greek)

Helios (Greek)

Hera (Greek)

Hercules (Roman)

Herne (English)

Horned God (Wicca)

Horus (Egyptian)

Janus (Roman)

Jove (Roman)

Jupiter (Roman)

Mars (Roman)

the Morrigan (Irish)

Odin (Norse)

Pan (Greek)

Perkūnas (Baltic)

Perun (Slavic)

Pluto (Roman)

Rhea (Greek)

Svarog (Slavic)

Taara (Estonian)

Taranis (Gaulish)

Thor (Norse)

Ukko (Finnish)

Vishnu (Hindu)

Zeus (Greek)

Elements

air

earth

fire [especially wood]

Entities

ancestors

Balanos (Greek)

deities

druids

dryads

elves

fae [especially acorns, twigs]

hamadryads

spirits

spirit guides

Genders

masculinity [especially wood]

nonbinary genders

trans femininity

trans masculinity

Holidays

Autumn Equinox

Beltane [especially acorns]

Litha [especially leaves]

Lughnasadh

Mabon

Midsummer’s Eve

Summer Solstice

Walpurgis Night

Yule

Zodiac Signs

Aries

Cancer

Gemini

Leo

Sagittarius

Virgo

CORRESPONDENCES

abundance [especially acorns, acorn caps]

afterlives/otherworlds

attraction

authority

awareness

beauty [acorns]

being the best version of yourself

blessing

cleansing [especially white]

confidence

consecration

courage [especially acorns]

death

dedication

deduction in sexual desire [decayed acorns, rotted acorns]

defense [especially wood]

determination

divination

divine energy

enchantment

endurance

energy work

family

family unity [sprigs]

feeling at ease

feeling one’s age [decayed, rotted]

fertility [especially acorns, acorn flour, acorn symbols, white, wood]

finances

financial gain [acorn symbols]

financial success [acorns]

focus

funerary practices

good fortune [especially acorns, acorn symbols]

good health [acorns, acorn caps]

good luck [acorns, acorn caps, wood]

great ideas [acorn symbols]

grounding [bark]

growth [acorns]

harmony

healing [especially acorns, acorn flour, wood]

health [especially acorn flour, white, wood]

home

hunting [especially acorns]

inspiration

justice

leadership

legal matters

lightning [wood]

long-term determination

longevity [especially acorns, acorn caps]

luck [especially acorns, acorn flour, acorn symbols, wood]

manifestation [especially acorns]

might

money [especially acorns, acorn flour, wood]

new beginnings [acorn symbols]

new ventures [acorns]

nurturing [acorns]

offering [leaves, wood]

opening

opening doors

overcoming challenges/obstacles

patience

perseverance

personal power [acorns, acorn flour]

personal sovereignty

potency [especially acorns, acorn flour, wood]

power [especially acorns, wood]

prophecy

prosperity [especially acorns, wood]

protection [especially acorns, acorn flour, leaves, wood]

protection from bad weather [especially acorns]

protection from evil

protection from fae [bundled twigs]

protection from fire

protection from floods [acorns]

protection from harm [especially acorns]

protection from lightning [especially acorns]

purification [especially leaves]

removing negativity

renewal

rulership

safety [acorns]

savings [acorn symbols]

sealing doors

secrets

security [acorns, acorn caps]

sex

sexuality

solidity [white]

spirit work

spirituality

stability [wood]

steadfast knowledge [leaves]

strength [especially acorns, bark, white, wood]

strengthening the threshold

studying [especially acorns]

success [especially acorn symbols, wood]

success in school/work

transition

truth [leaves]

uncrossing [white]

unlimited/unseen potential [acorns]

victory

victory in battles/war

warding

warding off evil [twigs]

warding off illness [acorns]

warding off malevolent spirits

warding off negativity [especially sprigs]

wealth [especially acorn flour]

wisdom [especially acorns, acorn flour]

youthfulness [especially acorns, acorn caps]

[emmaroulette]

4/5 of the ecosystems I’ve illustrated for the Florida Trail Association! This one is the xeric sandhill scrub, which is common throughout north and central Florida, like the Juniper Prairie Wilderness in Ocala National Forest.  Species listed: Fauna Twin-flagged jumping spider (Anasaitis canosa) Black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) Golden orbweaver spider (Nephila clavipes) Dog-day cicada (Tibicen canicularis) Florida bark scorpion (Centruroides gracilis) Fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) Eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) Red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) Southeastern kestrel (Falco sparverius paulus) Pine warbler (Setophaga pinus) Florida black Bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) Flora Gopher apple (Licania michauxii) Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia austrina) Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) Turkey Oak (Quercus laevis) Wiregrass (Aristida stricta)

[nu-field-guide-debonis]

Quercus michauxii

Swamp Chestnut Oak

Height: 50ft-60ft

Spread: 40ft-60ft

Native: L48

Kingdom: Plantae (plants)

Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (vascular plants)

Superdivision: Spermatophyta (seed plants)

Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons)

Subclass: Hamameliddae

Order: Fagales

Family: Fagaceae

Genus: Quercus L.

Large, palmately compound leaves

Provides dense shade

Grows small fruit that attracts squirrels

High drought tolerance

Photographed at Stetson West Dorm, Boston, MA

Prefers full solar exposure

Prefers medium textured soil

Prefers low moisture level

Cold hardiness zones 5-9

Sources: https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=QUMI

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st557

[jack-beresford]

White Oak  (Quercus alba)

Mature Size - (50-80′ x 50-80′) Occasionally grows over 100′ tall.

Shape and Form - Large tree. Pyramidal when young, but matures into a substantial tree with a wide-spreading, rounded crown. Branching can be irregular and quite interesting.

Growth Habit - Slow to medium growth rate.

Leaves - Typical oak leaf shape, in the white oak group. Rounded lobes. Leaves emerge pinkish in spring, but mature to dark green. Variable fall color ranges from uninteresting browns to quality shades of dark red. 

Flowers - Insignificant yellowish-green flowers in separate male and female catkins appear in spring shortly after the leaves emerge.

Fruit/Seeds - Fruits are oval acorns (to 3/4" long) with warty-scaled cups. Leaves (4-9" long) have 7 to 9 deep rounded lobes.

Bark - White or light gray bark is somewhat flaky.

Region - USA native. Native to eastern North America.

Hardiness Zones - (3-9)

Habitat/Growing Conditions -  Typically occurs in dry upland slopes and ledges as well as lowland valleys and ravines. Best grown in rich, moist, acidic, well-drained loams in full sun. Adapts to a wide variety of soil conditions with good drought tolerance. Will tolerate drought, clay soil, dry soil, and shallow rocky soil.

Plant Community - NA

Eco-indicator - NA

Other info - White Oak features a high level of genetic variability among the species.

An important timber tree, White Oak wood is heavy, hard, strong, and durable. An important source of wood for furniture, veneer, paneling, and flooring.

The young shoots of many eastern oak species are readily eaten by deer. Dried oak leaves are also occasionally eaten by white-tailed deer in the fall or winter.   Rabbits often browse twigs and can girdle stems. The porcupine feeds on the bark, and beavers eat twigs of White Oaks. Acorns of White Oak are considered choice food for many wildlife species, including the white-footed mouse, fox squirrel, black bear, pine mouse, red squirrel, and cottontail rabbits.  The gray squirrel consumes white oak acorns but prefers the acorns of other oak species.  Many birds, including the bluejay, northern bobwhite, mallard, ring-necked pheasant, greater prairie chicken, ruffed grouse, and wild turkey, eat white oak acorns.  In some areas, the abundance of fall mast crops, such as acorns, can affect black bear reproductive success during the following year. Sprouted acorns are often eaten by deer, mice, and bobwhite.

Current Nursery Status and Availability - Easily available in nursery trade. Dirr lists a single cultivar of this species in his 6th edition woody plants manual:

‘Southern Cross’ - A unique hybrid between Quercus alba and Quercus michauxii. Features rapid growth rate, strong central leader, graceful branching habit, and tolerance of periodically flooded soil.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=l930

https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/quealb/all.html

http://hort.uconn.edu/detail.php?pid=377

Dirr - “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants”

Wessels - “Reading the Forested Landscape”

[rjalker]

ACORNS!!!

Swamp chestnut oak observation on iNaturalist

[rjalker]

the same acorn 88 days later

day 1:

[ID: A photo of an immature swamp chestnut oak acorn in a tree facing the camera. The cap is bumpy and light green, and almost completely covers the light green acorn developing inside except for a small circle at the bottom. End ID.]

day 88:

[ID: A photo of the same acorn, now much larger, with the cap light brown, and the acorn having expanded and grown so it is now very large. It is almost yellow in color, with more tan near the very bottom. The leaves around it are starting to change color. End ID.]

The tree's started dropping other acorns, so if I'm lucky I'll be able to find this one when it falls too, lol...

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii), which has sweet acorns.

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Plant friends, can anyone positively id this oak? This is central North Carolina, USA, pictures taken a couple days ago. It grows on a high bank by the river.

Candidates I came up with are are Quercus montana (chestnut oak), Q. michauxii (swamp chestnut oak), and Q. meuhlenbergii (chinkapin oak). I'm open to others, of course, as these all seem wrong.

Q. montana was my first thought, and I still think the leaves look like that, but the bark is entirely wrong, both in comparison with reference photos and with other locals specimens I've seen in person. For Q. michauxii, the leaves seem wrong, in both texture/shininess and width. Q. meuhlenbergii seems the least likely, as it should have pointed leaf lobes and shouldn't naturally occur in this county (though it being planted at this location is possible).