''Quercus montana'', the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in southern Michigan. It is also sometimes called rock oak because of its presence in montane and other rocky habitats.

Description

As a consequence of its dry habitat and ridgetop exposure, the chestnut oak is not usually a large tree, typically growing to tall; specimens growing in better conditions can grow up to tall. They tend to have a similar spread of . A 10-year-old sapling grown in full sun will stand about tall. This species is often an important canopy species in an oak-heath forest. It is readily identified by its massively-ridged dark gray-brown

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

, the thickest of any eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n oak. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are long and broad, shallowly lobed with 10–15 rounded lobes on each margin; they are virtually identical to the leaves of

swamp chestnut oak ''Quercus michauxii'', the swamp chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'' in the beech family. It is native to bottomlands and wetlands in the southeastern and midwestern United States, in coastal ...

and

chinkapin oak ''Quercus muehlenbergii'', the chinquapin (or chinkapin) oak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''). The species was often called ''Quercus acuminata'' in older literature. ''Quercus muehlenbergii' ...

, but the trees can readily be distinguished by the bark, that of the chinkapin oak being a light ash-gray and somewhat peeling like that of the white oak and that of swamp chestnut oak being paler ash-gray and scaly. The chinkapin oak also has much smaller

acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

s than the chestnut oak. The chestnut oak is easily distinguished from the swamp white oak because that tree has whitened undersides on the leaves. Another important distinction between the chestnut oak and the swamp chestnut oak is by the habitat; if it grows on a ridge, it is chestnut oak, and if it grows in wet bottomlands, it is probably the more massive swamp chestnut oak; however, this is not fully reliable. Characteristics include: * Bark: Dark, fissured into broad ridges, scaly. Branchlets stout, at first bronze green, later they become reddish brown, finally dark gray or brown. Heavily charged with tannic acid. * Wood: Dark brown, sapwood lighter; heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, durable in contact with the soil. Specific gravity 0.7499; weight of cubic foot, . * Winter buds: Light chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth to one-half of an inch long. * Leaves: Alternate, long, wide, obovate to oblong- lanceolate, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, coarsely crenately toothed, teeth rounded or acute, apex rounded or acute. They come out of the bud convolute, yellow green or bronze, shining above, very pubescent below. When full grown are thick, firm, dark yellow green, somewhat shining above, pale green and pubescent below; midribs stout, yellow, primary veins conspicuous. In autumn they turn a dull yellow soon changing to a yellow brown. Petioles stout or slender, short. Stipules linear to lanceolate, caducous. * Flowers: May, when leaves are one-third grown. Staminate flowers are borne in hairy

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

s (aments) two to three inches long;

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

pale yellow, hairy, deeply seven to nine-lobed;

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s 7 to 9;

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s bright yellow.

Pistillate flower This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

s in short spikes;

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

s green, stout, hairy;

involucral In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, ...

scales hairy; stigmas short, bright red. * Acorns: Annual, singly or in pairs; nut oval, rounded or acute at apex, bright chestnut brown, shining, one and a quarter to one and one-half inches in length; cup, cup-shaped or turbinate, usually enclosing one-half or one-third of the nut, thin, light brown and downy within, reddish brown and rough outside, tuberculate near the base. Scales small, much crowded toward the rim sometimes making a fringe. Kernel white, sweetish. The acorns of the chestnut oak are long and broad, among the largest of Native American oaks, surpassed in size only by the bur oak and possibly swamp chestnut oak.

Taxonomy and nomenclature

Extensive confusion between the chestnut oak (''Quercus montana'') and the swamp chestnut oak (''

Quercus michauxii ''Quercus michauxii'', the swamp chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'' in the beech family. It is native to bottomlands and wetlands in the southeastern and midwestern United States, in coas ...

'') has occurred, and some botanists have considered them to be the same species in the past. The name ''Quercus prinus'' was long used by many botanists and foresters for either the chestnut oak or the swamp chestnut oak, with the former otherwise called ''Q. montana'' or the latter otherwise called ''Q. michauxii''. The application of the name ''Q. montana'' to the chestnut oak is now accepted, since ''Q. prinus'' is of uncertain position, unassignable to either species. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''montana'' refers to mountains or coming from mountains which probably refers to the tree's habitat and its ability to grow on rocks.

Ecology

This species is a predominant ridge-top tree in eastern North American hardwood forests. Young chestnut oaks are easily capable of reproducing from stump sprouts if cut. A significant amount of chestnut oaks in the Appalachians are trees that regrew from stump sprouts after being logged. It is a long-lived tree, with high-quality timber when well-formed. The acorns of the chestnut oak are a valuable wildlife food.

Uses

Chestnut oak trees are generally not the best timber trees because they are usually branched low and not very straight, but when they grow in better conditions, they are valuable for timber, which is marketed as 'mixed white oak'. The bark of chestnut oak has a high tannin content and prior to the 20th century was heavily used in the leather tanning industry, but the wood was usually discarded since it was considered inferior to that of ''Q. alba''. By the late 19th century, as the population of mature white oaks in the eastern US was dwindling, loggers began exploiting chestnut oak wood more heavily. It serves many of the same applications as white oak wood and as it is fairly rot-proof, has also been used for fencing, railroad ties, and other uses where the wood comes into contact with soil. Due to a relatively high density ( per cu. ft), chestnut oak makes excellent firewood. The acorns can be eaten by humans but, if bitter, may need to have the tannins leached.

References

External links