#quercus phellos

[deathtek]

4/28/20

The largest tree in my townhouse's backyard. When this tree is leafless in the winter, cardinals decorate it like ornaments as they take turns at the bird feeder.

[gbmauri]

Quercus phellos

[cammyouplant]

Quercus phellos / Willow Oak

PLANT COMMUNITY: N/A

NATIVE REGION: New York to Florida, west to Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas

MATURE SIZE: Height of 40-60′, spread of 30-40′; dense oblong-oval to rounded crown at maturity

HABITAT/GROWING CONDITIONS: Floodplains and adjacent slopes

ECO-INDICATOR: N/A

HARDINESS ZONE: 6-9

LEAF COLOR: Light to bright green in spring, dark green in summer, changing to yellow, bronze-orange, yellow-brown, and russet-red in fall

FRUIT COLOR: Acorn striated brown and blackish bands 

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:  Willow oak is used for restoration of the wetter sites of bottomland hardwood forests and for rehabilitation of disturbed areas.  It is also a good species to plant along margins of fluctuating-level reservoirs. 

SOURCES: Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants; https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/quephe/all.html

[dendroica]

Willow Oak, Quercus phellos (by me)

[dendroica]

Willow Oak (by Dendroica cerulea)