Swamp Oak

The Quercus Palustris is commonly known as Pin Oak, Spanish Oak, Swamp Oak, Swamp Spanish Oak, as well as Water Oak

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Growing Regions

Pin oak occurs primarily along major rivers and on glacial till plains in the north-central and eastern United States. It is distributed from southwestern New England; west to extreme southern Ontario, southern Michigan, northern Illinois, and Iowa; south to Missouri, east Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma; and east to central Arkansas, Tennessee, central North Carolina, and Virginia [19].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of pin oak is Quercus palustris Muenchh. [16]. It has been placed within the subgenus Erythrobalanus, or red (black) oak group [22]. There are no recognized varieties, subspecies, or forms. Pin oak hybridizes with the following species [16,19]: x Q. coccinea (scarlet oak) x Q. imbricaria (shingle oak): Q. Xexacta Trel. x Q. phellos (willow oak): Q. Xschochiana Dieck x Q. rubra (northern red oak): Q. Xcolumnaris Laughlin x Q. shumardii (Shumard oak): Q. Xmutabilis Palmer & Steyerm. x Q. velutina (black oak): Q. Xvaga Palmer & Steyerm.

Pin oak is found in bottomland hardwood communities.  There are four
variants of the SAF cover type pin oak-sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua):  white oak (Quercus alba)-pin oak-sweetgum, pin
oak-American elm (Ulmus americana), pin oak-red maple (Acer rubrum), and
pure pin oak [8].  Nearly pure even-aged stands of pin oak are known as
"pin oak flats" [19].  A pin oak-cherrybark oak (Quercus falcata var.
pagodifolia) community occurs in the Mississippi River Valley in
Illinois [25].

The following publication lists pin oak as a dominant species:

Forests of the Illinoian Till Plain of southwestern Ohio [5]

• More Swamp Oak Information

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