Alternate name: Chinquapin Oak, Chestnut Oak
Family: Fagaceae, Beech view all from this family
Description Tree with narrow, rounded crown; characteristic of limestone uplands.
Height: 50-80' (15-24 m).
Diameter: 2-3' (0.6-0.9 m).
Leaves: 4-6" (10-15 cm) long, 1 1/2-3" (4-7.5 cm) wide. Narrowly elliptical to obovate; slightly thickened; pointed at tip; narrowed to base; with many straight, parallel side veins, each ending in curved tooth on wavy edges. Shiny green above, whitish-green and covered with tiny hairs beneath; turning brown or red in fall.
Bark: light gray; thin, fissured and scaly.
Acorns: 1/2-1" (1.2-2.5 cm) long; egg-shaped, 1/3 or more enclosed by deep thin cup of many overlapping hairy long-pointed gray-brown scales; usually stalkless; maturing first year.
Habitat Mostly on limestone outcrops in alkaline soils, including dry bluffs and rocky river banks; often with other oaks.
Range S. Ontario east to w. Vermont, south to nw. Florida, west to central Texas, and north to Iowa; local in se. New Mexico, Trans-Pecos Texas, and ne. Mexico; at 400-3000' (122-914 m).
Discussion The common name refers to the resemblance of the foliage to chinkapins (Castanea), while the Latin species name honors Henry Ernst Muehlenberg (1753-1815), a Pennsylvania botanist.
