PIN OAK Quercus palustris Muench.
PIN oak is rarely found naturally except on the rich moist soil of bottom lands and the borders of swamps. It is usually not abundant in any locality, but found scattered with other kinds of trees. It more commonly attains heights of 50 to 70 feet, with diameters up to 2 feet, but sometimes larger. The tree commonly has a single, upright stem with numerous long, tough branches, the lower ones drooping, the middle horizontal, and the upper ascending. Many of the lower branches soon die and their stubs are the “pins” which give the tree its name.
PIN OAK
Leaf, one-third natural size. Twig, one-half natural size.
The bark on young stems is smooth, shining and light brown; on old trunks light gray-brown and covered by small, close scales. Because of its beauty, its hardiness, and its fairly rapid growth, pin oak makes an exceptionally fine street tree.
The leaves generally resemble those of the northern red oak, but they are smaller and much more deeply lobed. They are 3 to 5 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide.
The flowers are of two kinds on the same tree, and appear when the leaves are about one-third grown. The fruit, taking two years to mature, is an acorn nearly hemispheric, about one-half inch long, light brown, often striped, enclosed only at the base in a thin, shallow, saucer-shaped cup.