White oak

Leaves

Form

• 7–9 lobes
• Rounded, narrow
• Separated by deeply cut notches
• Downy when unfolding, becoming hairless

Length

• 10–20 cm

Width

• Usually widest above the middle

Colour

• Upper surface bright green
• Lower surface pale green
• Pinkish when unfolding

Autumn colour

• Inconsistent
• Orange to reddish-purple

Margin

• Some leaves with 1 or 2 large blunt teeth

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud ovoid, blunt
• Usually hairless
• Not angled
• Lateral buds diverge from the twig

Length

• Terminal bud 3–5 mm

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Moderately stout
• Mostly hairless

Colour

• Green to reddish-green when young, becoming red, then grey

Flowers

Form

• Pollen flowers small
• In many-flowered drooping catkins
• Seed flowers small
• Solitary or in few-flowered clusters (spikes)

Structure

• Monoecious

Floral timing

• With the leaves

Fruits

Form

• Acorns solitary or paired
• Stalkless or short-stalked
• Cup broadly bowl-shaped enclosing about one-quarter of the nut
• Scales thickened, warty
• Free at the tips but not forming a fringe to the cup

Length

• Acorns 12–20 mm

Structure

• 1-seeded nut

Bark

Form

• Scaly

Colour

• Pale grey, often with a reddish cast

Wood

Texture

• Hard, strong, tough

Colour

• Light brown

Size

Height

• To 35 m

Diameter

• To 120 cm

Maximum age

• Several hundred years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Distinct well into the crown
• Often branch-free for two-thirds of its height

Open-grown

Crown

• Sometimes composed of large branches
• Many wide-spreading gnarled and twisted side branches

Root system

• Deep, spreading, with a deep taproot

Habitat

Site

• Variety of soils
• Persists as an understory tree
• Grows well in open stands

Light tolerance

• Moderately shade-tolerant

Associated species

• Other oaks, basswood, black cherry, hickories, sugar maple, white ash, eastern white pine, and eastern hemlock

Range

Broadleaf forests of southern Ontario and Quebec