Quercus nigra: Water Oak: ENH-711/ST553, 12/2018

Abstract

Water Oak has a spreading, rounded, open canopy, and is most often used for a naturalized landscape. The acorns are particularly abundant on Water Oak and make good food for wildlife. They badly stain asphalt and concrete for several months in fall and winter. The leaves vary tremendously, from rounded and entire to three-lobed with several bristle tips but are most frequently spatulate. Water Oak is deciduous in the North, semi-evergreen in the Deep South, and trees reach 60 to 80 feet in height (shorter when grown in the open) with a 50 to 70-foot spread. Some trees put on a wonderful yellow fall color show for about a week. Original publication date November 1993.