Compare sources for Quercus bicolor

Select sources to compare:

Field

Oak Compendium ★

Oaks of the World

The Sibley Guide to Trees

Common Names

Swamp White Oak

swamp white oak, bicolor oak, blue oak

Swamp White Oak, Swamp Oak

Geographic Range

—

NE U.S.A.; South Canada; 0 to 1000 m; introduced in Europe in 1800;

—

Growth Habit

—

reaches 20 m, and even more;

Deciduous. Large tree often 70’. Ofetn with twiggy tufts looking coarse and unkept.

Leaves

—

8-20 x 5-11 cm; oboval; apex broadly rounded; base narrowly cuneate; 3-6 pairs of shallow lobes at apical 1/2; bright green and glabrous above; pale glaucous and slightly pubescent beneath (simple and stellate hairs), somewhat velvety; 3-7 pairs of secondary veins; orangish at fall; short petiole 0.4-2 cm;

6 1/2”
relatively few irregualr teeth or sharo shallow lobes
underleaf whitish

Fruits (Acorns)

—

acorn ovoid 2-3 cm long, singly or paired or to 3; cupule scaly, deep, enclosing 1/2 to 2/3 of nut, with appressed scales; long peduncle 2-7 cm; cotyledons distinct;

1”
cup deeply fringed
long thin peduncle

Bark

—

strips like alba but generally rougher, older trunks furrowed and blocky

Buds

—

relatively small, blunt, unlike montana or michauxii

Hardiness & Habitat

—

hardy; prefers moist, lime-free soils; long-living;

Common in wet woods and swamps, bottomlands, flood plains.
Commonly cultivated
Zones 4-8

Additional Information

—

– A. Camus : n° 189 ; – Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Subsection Prinoideae; – Related to Q.macrocarpa ;

Hybridizes commonly with michauxii where range overlaps. Hybrids tend to have more deeply lobed leaves and varying degrees of development of awns (fringe along the margin of the acorn cuo).
Apparently hybrids with macrocarpa are common in the Upper Midwest with intermediate leaf and acorn.