Quercus palustris

Description: Popular due to the attractive pyramidal shape and straight, dominant trunk, even on older specimens, it exhibits chlorosis on high pH and limestone soils because of iron-deficiency and so is not highly recommended for these sites. Green, glossy leaves borne on relatively small-diameter branches give way to brilliant red to bronze fall color attracting attention in the landscape

Botanical Name Quercus palustris

Common Name: Pin Oak

Family: Fagaceae

Height: growing to 18-22 m (60-70 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft) diameter. It has an 8-14 m (25-45 ft) spread

Foliage: Alternate, simple, 3 to 6 inches long, oval in outline with 5 to 9 bristle-tipped lobes and irregularly deep sinuses that extend nearly to the midrib. Major lobes form a U-shape. Bright green above and pale below with axillary tifts.

Flower: Monoecious; male flowers borne on slender, drooping yellow-green catkins; females reddish green borne on short spikes in new leaf axils, appearing in the spring with the leaves.

Fruit: Acorns are 1/2 inch long, striated, round (but flattened at the cap); thin and saucer-like cap, covered with red-brown appressed scales; matures after 2 years, dispersed fall to early winter.

Growth Habits: loam; sand; acidic; extended flooding; well-drained

Light: tree grows in full sun

Disease: Anthracnose may be a serious problem in wet weather. Infected leaves have dead areas following the midrib or larger veins. These light brown blotches may run together and, in severe cases, cause leaf drop. Trees of low vigor, repeatedly defoliated, may die.

Treatment: No pests are normally serious. Iron chlorosis is the most common problem for Pin Oak growing in soils with a high pH.