General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9b
Plant Height: 60 feet to 80 feet
Leaves: Good fall color
Deciduous
Fruit: Other: big acorns
Fruiting Time: Late summer or early fall
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Other: Male flowers are drooping catkins while female flowers appear on short spikes in the leaf axils.
Flower Color: Other: Yellowish
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Spring
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Street Tree
Uses: Shade Tree
Dynamic Accumulator: K (Potassium)
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Pollinators: Wind
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Monoecious

Image
Common names
  • White Oak
  • Northern white oak
  • Stave Oak
  • Ridge White Oak
  • Forked-leaf White Oak
  • Charter Oak
  • Oak

Photo Gallery
Location: Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Date: 2012-04-17
Male catkins of Quercus alba, still in the bud stage
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2016-12-16
Fallen leaves
Location: Apple Valley MN
Date: 2017-12-22
Location: My Yard Central Indiana
Date: December 19, 2008
Ice Storm Damage
Location: House in the Horseshoe historic site near Carthage, North Carolina
Date: November 8, 2022
White Oak #358; RAB p. 363, 55-3-1; LHB page 332, 50-2-16; AG p.
Location: House in the Horseshoe historic site near Carthage, North Carolina
Date: November 8, 2022
White Oak #358; RAB p. 363, 55-3-1; LHB page 332, 50-2-16; AG p.
Location: House in the Horseshoe historic site near Carthage, North Carolina
Date: November 8, 2022
White Oak #358; RAB p. 363, 55-3-1; LHB page 332, 50-2-16; AG p.
Location: My Yard Central Indiana
Date: December 19, 2008
Ice Storm Damage

Date: c. 1865
illustration by P. J. Redouté from Michaux's 'North American Syl
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2020-03-27
Catkins
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2017-11-16
Fallen acorns
Location: My Yard Central Indiana
Date: December 19, 2008
Ice Storm Damage
Location: Hibernia County Park in southeast Pennsylvania
Date: 2017-11-10
maturing tree in fall
Location: House in the Horseshoe historic site near Carthage, North Carolina
Date: November 8, 2022
White Oak #358; RAB p. 363, 55-3-1; LHB page 332, 50-2-16; AG p.
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Location: Maine
Sunrise  & old oak
Location: Fairfax, Virginia
Date: 2022-04-21
Location: Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 2020-10-11
Oak leaves beginning to turn (white oak, Quercus alba)
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2010-06-13
full-grown tree in cemetery
Location: Thorndale, Pennsylvania
Date: 2013-12-24
Location: Riverview, Robson, B.C. 
Date: 2008-02-12
 3:05 pm. Leathery winter foliage.
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Location: Hidden Lake Gardens, Tipton, Michigan
Date: 2012-10-04
On occasion, Quercus alba can produce red fall colors to rival Ac
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Date: 2018-06-24
Photo by wildflowers
Photo by wildflowers
Location: Fairfax, VA | May, 2023
Location: Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 2020-10-11
As with many trees, the best color in fall is at the top of the t
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2010-07-02
full-grown tree
Location: Stroud Land Preserve in southeast PA
Date: 2015-10-23
full-grown tree in fall color
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2015-10-31
full-grown tree in autumn color
Location: Stroud Land Preserve in southeast PA
Date: 2015-10-23
large trunk
Location: French Creek State Park in southeast Pennsylvania
Date: 2009-12-24
old tree in winter
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2010-06-13
summer leaves
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Location: Nationale Plantentuin Meise (Brussels)
Location: North Carolina
Date: November
By Dcrjsr
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2018-07-29
several trees together of a remnant nursery, now a yard
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2018-07-29
several trunks in a remnant nursery, now a landscape
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2018-07-29
leaves and trunk
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: 2010-08-16
young tree planted at Millenium Park
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Location: Fairfax, VA | May, 2023
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Fairfax, VA | May, 2023
Location: Stroud Land Preserve in southeast PA
Date: 2011-08-12
full-grown tree
Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Date: 2010-10-25
two oaks together in fall
Location: Hibernia County Park in southeast Pennsylvania
Date: 2017-11-10
fall foliage
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2011-01-31
the gray scaly bark
Location: Marsh Creek Lake Park in southeast PA
Date: 2018-01-18
looking up a large trunk
Location: Thorndale, Pennsylvania
Date: 2010-08-28
acorns and summer foliage
Location: Marsh Creek Lake Park in southeast PA
Date: 2018-01-18
lower big trunk (on left side)
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-03-16
Location: Ridley Creek State Park.
Date: September.
photo by Derek Ramsey.
Location: Nationale Plantentuin (Meise - Brussel - Belgium)
Date: 2019-12-03

Date: 2016-03-20
Location: Middle TN
Date: November 3, 2017
Location: the Lurie Garden in Chicago, Illinois
Date: 2010-08-16
the acorns and foliage
Location: near Malvern, Pennsylvania
Date: 2017-09-05
acorns and foliage
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Dec 7, 2017 8:48 PM concerning plant:
    White Oak is a common species as one of the climax forest trees in forest, but it sometimes does grow out in meadows or open fields from Maine to northwest Florida to east Texas up to central Minnesota over to a little of southeast Ontario. It is the state tree of Illinois. It grows about 1 foot/year for the first 30 years of its life, then slower and lives about 350 to 500 years. It has a deep taproot and is difficult to transplant, but it can be moved B&B in early spring. Some large diverse nurseries and native plant nurseries grow some for sale. Like other oaks, it is a host to many beneficial insect species that birds need to survive upon. The large acorns borne every year are eaten by birds and mammals. Like a number of other oaks, it is sensitive to any ground disturbance as construction nearby or a sudden change from forest to lawn. I consider it as the most glorious oak species in the world, and they are all good.
  • Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Apr 17, 2013 7:07 PM concerning plant:
    The official state tree of Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland.
Plant Events from our members
WebTucker On November 9, 2022 Fruit Ripened
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Discussion Threads about this plant
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Severe Damage by TBGDN Feb 17, 2015 7:14 PM 3
Not Oxalis by plantladylin Aug 14, 2023 11:01 AM 2

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