Pin Oak Q. Palustris B&B – The Swamp Oak Story



Posted: Thursday, November 12, 2009

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tn nursery

Swamp Spanish Oak, Water Oak, and Pin Oak or scientifically called Quercus Palustris, belongs to the red oak section of the oak family. A North America and Canada native, it has adapted itself very well to the climatic conditions of Australia also right from its introduction there. It can be acquired from a nursery that sells landscaping and ornamental seedlings.

Pin Oak is a deciduous, medium size one that grows to 18 to 22m in height with a trunk diameter of upto1m and can spread from 8 to 14 meters. The height of a 10 year old tree is about 8m with a broad conic crown in the young stage combined with small numerous branches that radiate from one central leader. As time goes by and the tree grows older, the central branch is lost in the upper branches, which grow quite large causing the lower branches to droop gradually downward. The trunk stands straight and tall, despite the dead branches, covered in a smooth bark that is grayish brown in color. The leaves of the tree are 5 to 16cm long and 5 to 12cm broad with sinuses that run deep between the five to seven lobes. There are bristle tipped teeth of 5 to 7 for each lobe. Except for a pale orange brown tuft on the underside of the lower surface of the leaf, where the central vein and the lobe veins join, the leaf is hairless. The acorns are hemispherical in shape and are borne in a cup that is shallow and 10 to 16m in length and 9 to 15mm in breadth. They are green when young and turn pale brown as they mature after pollination in 18 months, with a bitter kernel.

Swamp Oak lives for 90 to 120 years in wetlands. The root system is fibrous and shallow which is very unlike an oak. The tree cannot tolerate limestone but can tolerate acidic soils. It grows in swamps and in low altitudes up to 350m from the sea level. The Pin oak can retain its leaves on tissues that are juvenile even in winter like some other species of oak. The leaves on a young tree, which is about or under 6 m, exists all year round despite the death of the leaves during fall because they remain attached until new leaves appear on the shoot in spring. Even if the Pin oak dies, the branches stay attached to the tree for many years.

Native Americans use the bark of Pin Oak for treating intestinal pain. It is a popular ornamental tree and are cheap to propagate and easy to transplant because of their fibrous root system. If planted in alkaline or iron poor soils, the plant suffers from a condition termed as iron chlorosis. Areas that flood during the dormant season but not during the growing season are best suited for its growth. Though the wood is sold in the red wood category, it is inferior and weak. Caterpillars feed on it. The tree requires full sun for best growth. Locally the wood is used for constructing fences and as firewood.

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