SCIENTIFIC NAME: Quercus nigra

COMMON NAME: water oak

LEAVES: Baseball bat shaped (looks like a spatula) and glabrous. May try to lobe out at the tip. Up to3" long and 1" wide. Very little fall color.

GROWTH RATE: 2.6 ft./yr. in our shade tree study.

FRUIT: Small acorn less than one half in diameter.

BARK: Gray and shallowly ridge and furrowed.

OTHER: Native to low, moist sites, but will tolerate intermediate sites. Fibrous rooted. Short lived (<200 years). Retains dead leaves so ground underneath the tree must be raked in winter. Round headed tree. Still widely used as a landscape tree.