PLANT PROFILE

Quercus falcata
Spanish oak, Southern red oak



Quercus falcata

Quercus falcata
Quercus falcata
Top Photo Courtesy Renee Brecht; Bottom, USDA
Britton & Brown
Botanical name: Quercus falcata
Common name: southern red oak, Spanish oak
Group: dicot
Family: Fagaceae
Growth type: forb/herb
Duration: perennial
Origin: native
Plant height: to 90'
Bark: dark, thick, with scaly ridges and deep furrows.Inner bark is not as yellow as Quercus velutina.
Leaves: alternate, simple, bristle tipped lobes; may be 3 lobed with shallow sinuses or 5-7 lobes with deeper sinuses.
Flower: monoecious, yellow green male catkins, females reddish on short spikes
Flowering time: blooms early to mid May; fruit matures September to November of second year
Habitat: dry or moist, infertile soils
Range in New Jersey: through the coastal plain outside the pine barrens, decreasing northward
Heritage ranking, if any: n/a
Distribution:
Misc. Stone, 1910, says "The dark-glossy upper surface and lighter lower surface, together with the long falcate terminal segments of the leaves, give to the foliage a characteristic appearance.
The outline of individual leaves varies greatly even on the same tree,..There is a form specially prevalent on the coast, with long triangular leaves, with three nearly equal, rather blunt, terminal lobes" (406).