Bluejack Oak Tree Information
Images of Bluejack Oak:
Bluejack Oak grows in the following 11 states and provinces:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, VirginiaInformation about Bluejack Oak:
The Quercus Incana is commonly known as the Bluejack Oak, Cinnamon Oak, Sandjack Oak as well as Upland Willow Oak.
The currently accepted scientific name for bluejack oak is Quercus incana Bartr. (Fagaceae) . There are no accepted infrataxa. Bluejack oak forms hybrids with seven other oak species .Bluejack oak occurs on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from southeastern Virginia south to central Florida; west to Louisiana and eastern and central Texas; and north to southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas .Bluejack oak typically occurs in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) communities . Bluejack oak and turkey oak (Quercus laevis) grow to about half the height of the dominant longleaf pines, maintaining a sparse middle canopy layer. The herb layer is usually dominated by wiregrass (Aristida stricta) . There are three distinguishable phases of the Florida sandhills (longleaf pine) associations: 1) turkey oak (Quercus laevis), 2) bluejack oak or sand post oak (Q. stellata var. margaretta), and 3) southern red oak (Quercus falcata) . In each of these associations, longleaf pine occurs as scattered overstory individuals. The turkey oak phase occurs on the driest sites, with scattered bluejack oak and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana). The bluejack oak phase is more characteristic of fine-textured, somewhat more fertile soils. Live oaks (Quercus spp.) are common in the overstory. The herb layer is characterized by wiregrass and pineywoods dropseed (Sporobolus junceus) . In the sandhills of the Big Thicket region of Texas, dominant oaks are bluejack oak and post oak (Q. stellata); dominant pine species include longleaf pine, shortleaf pine (P. echinata), and loblolly pine (P. taeda). Pine densities are low, herb cover is sparse, and there are many areas of exposed sand . In Texas, bluejack oak is found on the deep sands of Pineywoods, Gulf prairies and marshes, and post oak savanna (Quercus stellata). In post oak savanna, associated tree species include blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), black hickory (Carya texana), mesquite (Prosopis spp.), Texas live oak (Q. virginiana var. fusiformis), post oak, and sand post oak. Associated herb layer species include sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes) and threeawn (Aristida spp.). In the northeast Pineywoods, bluejack oak occurs in shortleaf pine-post oak-southern red oak and longleaf pine-bluejack oak associations. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is associated with bluejack oak on some sites . Bluejack oak shares dominance with blackjack oak and sand post oak on sites downslope of the extremely dry ridge tops that are dominated by turkey oak . Bluejack oak is listed as a dominant, codominant, or indicator species in the following publications: Longleaf pine communities of the west Gulf Coastal Plain The vegetation of the Apalachicola National Forest: an ecological perspective Natural communities of Florida's inland sand ridges Landscape ecosystem classification for South Carolina Forest vegetation of the Big Thicket, southeast Texas Eastern deciduous forest, Vol. 1 Some of the information provided here is attributed to:Sullivan, Janet. 1994. Quercus incana. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). , available at the USDA Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) website