Flora of the Southeastern United States

Quercus nigra Linnaeus. Common name: Water Oak, Paddle Oak, Chêne gris (frc). Phenology: Apr-May; Sep-Nov (of the second year). Habitat: Bottomland forests, especially on levees or second terraces where flooded infrequently and for short periods, less commonly on mesic slopes, but also now widely distributed and common as a "weed tree" in upland situations where it was once precluded by the historical fire regime. Distribution: Primarily a species of the Southeastern Coastal Plain: s. New Jersey south to s. Florida and west to e. Texas and se. Oklahoma, north in the interior to se. Tennessee, c. Tennessee, w. and sc. Kentucky (Clark et al. 2005), se. Missouri, and e. Oklahoma.

ID notes: Seedlings and fire sprouts of this species are highly variable in leaf morphology. Young saplings, as well as fire sprouts, often with wildly different leaves than the typical adult form, frequently deeply lobed; for excellent illustrations showing variability in leaf shapes, see p. 329 of Godfrey (1988) and pp. 51-52 of Godfrey & Wooten (1981). Its leaves are always smaller and more glabrous than those of other fire oaks (except Q. hemisphaerica).

Origin/Endemic status: Endemic

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Fl2, FNA3, G, GW2, Il, K1, K4, Mo3, NcTx, NS, POWO, RAB, Tat, Tn, Va, W, WH3, Hunt (1990); = Quercus aquatica Walter — Chap; > Quercus microcarya Small — S, S13; > Quercus nigra L. — S, S13; > Quercus nigra L. var. heterophylla (Aiton) Ashe — F; > Quercus nigra L. var. nigra — F. Basionym: Quercus nigra L. 1753

Links to other floras: = Quercus nigra - FNA3

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FAC
• Great Plains: FAC
• Midwest: FACW

Heliophily ⓘ: 5