Southern Red Oak
Quercus falcata

Appearance

Southern red oaks are medium-sized oaks with straight trunks. Bark on young trees is smooth and gray and changes to dark and furrowed as the tree grows. The leaves are dark green on top and pale green below. The leaves are deeply lobed and bristled.

Predators

Oaks can suffer from diseases such as oak wilt, chestnut blight, powdery mildew and oak leaf blister. The acorns can also be damaged by acorn weevils and filbert worms. The leaves are sometimes eaten by spongy moths.

Reproduction and life cycle

The trees develop small yellow flowers in the spring and acorns in the fall. The acorns will stay dormant over winter and sprout the following spring.

Did you know?

• Southern red oaks are known to grow in degraded soils and not as vigorously when conditions are ideal.
• Southern red oaks are the larval host for the banded hairstreak and white hairstreak butterflies.
• Since the acorns stay dormant over winter, they are an excellent food source for wildlife. Waterfowl, wild turkeys, blue jays, red-headed woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, common grackles, raccoons, white-tailed deer and squirrels eat the acorns.
• The large root system helps to prevent soil erosion and the large crown provides valuable shade cover.

Sources and additional information

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Plant Database: Southern Red Oak
• USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station - Southern Red Oak
• Towson University Glen Arboretum - Southern Red Oak
• https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/quefal/all.html