Range: New York across to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and southern Iowa to southeastern Nebraska, south into eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas, then east to northern Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The 3-lobed leaf, much broader at the apex, is the most distinctive characteristic of this oak.
SWAMP CHESTNUT OAK
Quercus michauxii Nutt.
Other Names: Basket Oak; Cow Oak.
Growth Form: Medium to large tree up to nearly 100 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 6 feet; crown rounded.
Bark: Gray or silvery-white, scaly.
Twigs: Stout, reddish-brown to gray, smooth or nearly so; leaf scars alternate but crowded near the tip, half-round, slightly elevated, with several bundle traces; pith star-shaped in cross-section.
Buds: Pointed, finely hairy, reddish-brown, up to ¼ inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades obovate, pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 10 inches long and 6 inches broad, coarsely scalloped along the edges, thick, green and sparsely hairy on the upper surface, whitish and densely hairy on the lower surface; leafstalk up to 1½ inches long, hairy.