Alternate name: Northern White Oak, Stave Oak

Family: Fagaceae, Beech view all from this family

Description The classic eastern oak, with widespreading branches and a rounded crown, the trunk irregularly divided into spreading, often horizontal, stout branches.
Height: 80-100' (24-30 cm) or more.
Diameter: 3-4' (0.9-1.2 m) or more.
Leaves: 4-9" (10-23 cm) long, 2-4" (5-10 cm) wide. Elliptical; 5- to 9-lobed; widest beyond middle and tapering to base; hairless. Bright green above, whitish or gray-green beneath; turning red or brown in fall, often remaining attached in winter.
Bark: light gray; shallowly fissured into long broad scaly plates or ridges, often loose.
Acorns: 3/8-1 1/4" (1-3 cm) long; egg-shaped; about 1/4 enclosed by shallow cup; becoming light gray; with warty, finely hairy scales; maturing first year.

Habitat Moist well-drained uplands and lowlands, often in pure stands.

Range S. Ontario and extreme S. Quebec east to Maine, south to N. Florida, west to E. Texas, and north to E. central Minnesota; to 5500' (1676 m), or above in southern Appalachians.

Discussion The most important lumber tree of the white oak group, its high-grade wood is useful for all purposes. It is sometimes called "Stave Oak" because the wood is outstanding in making tight barrels for whiskey and other liquids. In colonial times the wood was important in shipbuilding.