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)
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stems thick, pubescent and reddish when young, becoming brown/ash-gray with age
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buds oval, 1/8 - 1/4" long, covered with rusty-brown hairs
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bark is black, broken into irregular plates with furrows
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grows 15-60' tall (depending on soil conditions) in irregular to rounded or oval
crown; small, lower dead branches persist long on tree
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acorn is 3/4-1.25" long, about
2
enclosed in reddish brown cap; acorn is dark brown to black
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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)
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slow to medium growth rate, depending on growing conditions
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native to Missouri (and Springfield)