Blackjack Oak

Quercus marilandica

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

▲ mature tree

▲ newly-emerged leaves

▲▼ leaves

▲▼ leaves

▲ fall color

▲▼ buds

▲▼ trunks and bark

Location near campus:  Oak Grove Park in Springfield, MO

Quercus marilandica: Blackjack Oak

·         leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, with wider top half of leaf than base, or broad, 3-lobed leaf tip (unique leaf shape); 4-10" long and 2 as wide; dark-green and shiny above; yellow-green and very pubescent underneath; upper lobes tipped with prickles (leaves may persist through winter)

·         stems thick, pubescent and reddish when young, becoming brown/ash-gray with age

·         buds oval, 1/8 - 1/4" long, covered with rusty-brown hairs

·         bark is black, broken into irregular plates with furrows

·         grows 15-60' tall (depending on soil conditions) in irregular to rounded or oval crown; small, lower dead branches persist long on tree

·         acorn is 3/4-1.25" long, about 2 enclosed in reddish brown cap; acorn is dark brown to black

·         prefers full sun to part shade, dry, acid, infertile soils, but will grow larger in more fertile soils; is one of the oaks that can grow in very poor Ozark soils (along with post oak and black oak)

·         slow to medium growth rate, depending on growing conditions

·         native to Missouri (and Springfield)