Overcup Oak

Quercus lyrata

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

▲ young tree

▲▼ leaves

▲ acorn

Location on Missouri State University campus:  in retention basin area at southwest corner of National and Grand

Quercus lyrata:  Overcup Oak

*      leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, obovate with deepest lobes toward tip of leaf, somewhat similar to bur oak  (Quercus macrocarpa) or swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)

*      stems stout, gray-brown, bark is similar to white oak (Quercus alba), but not as scaly

*      has upright branching habit, strong leader, growing to 40-60+’ tall and ˝ as wide

*      tolerant of all but alkaline soils—will show iron chlorosis in high pH

*      acorn is globe-shaped and almost completely enclosed by “cap”—looks like a little brown golf ball

*      medium to fast growth rate; one of the easier-to-transplant white oaks

*     native in southeastern Missouri