Quercus bicolor
Common name: 
Swamp White Oak
Pronunciation: 
KWER-kus BI-kul-er
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Quercus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Deciduous tree, medium-sized, to 75 ft (23 m) tall, pyramidal when young, open crown, rounded, short trunk; bark light grayish-brown, scaly, fissured with flat ridges with age.  Leaves alternate, simple, 12-17 cm long, widest above the middle, tapering to a wedge-shape base, rounded shallow lobes, glossy green above, gray or almost white and pubescent below.  Fruit (acorns) 20-30 mm long, solitary or in pairs, stalks 2-10 mm long, cup covered with swollen scales, enclose a third or half of the nut.
  • Sun to part shade, best in moist, well-drained, acid soils, reportedly has some tolerance to drought and urban conditions.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4     Native range from Quebec, Pennsylvania, west to Wisconsin, south to Georgia and Arkansas.
  • bicolor: two-colored, a reference to the contrast between the upper and lower leaf surfaces.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: NW corner of Reed Lodge, Jefferson Way and 30th St.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • expanding leaves, spring

    expanding leaves, spring

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leafy shoot

    leafy shoot

  • leaf

    leaf

  • leaves, comparison

    leaves, comparison

  • developing acorn

    developing acorn

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • older trunk, bark

    older trunk, bark

  • winter twig and buds

    winter twig and buds