Quercus nigra
Common name: 
Water Oak
Possum Oak
Pronunciation: 
KWER-kus NI-gra
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Quercus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous tree, 50-80(100) ft (15-24(30) m) tall, rounded form.  Leaves alternate, simple, 3–12 cm long and 2–6 cm wide, often obovate and 3-lobed at the apex, but variable in shape and size, margins usually smooth, but a bristle at the apex and lobe tips.  Acorns small, about 1.5 cm or less, with striated black and brown bands.
  • Sun, adaptabe on moist to wet soils, transplants readily.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 6      Native to the southeastern US, from Delaware south to Georga and central Florida, and west to Louisiana and eastern Texas and Oklahoma.  Michael Dirr (2009, p.932) points out that it is a weed tree in their Georgia garden, the juvenile leaves of the young seedlings are heavily lobed and often evergreen. "They look nothing like the species" and this form may persit for 3-6 years.
  • nigra: black
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: northeast of Community Benton Hall, toward 15th St.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leafy shoot, young tree

    leafy shoot, young tree

  • leaves, young tree

    leaves

  • leaves, variation on young tree

    leaves, variation on young tree

  • leafy shoot, mature tree

    leafy shoot, mature tree

  • leaf

    leaf

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • winter twigs, buds

    winter twig, buds