Mystery Plant with John Nelson
John Nelson is the retired curator of the Herbarium at the University of South Carolina in the Department of Biological Sciences. As a public service, the Herbarium offers free plant identifications. For more information, visit www.herbarium.org or email johnbnelson@sc.rr.com.
(Photo by John Nelson) [Answer: “Blackjack oak” Quercus marilandica]
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This oak is most often a small tree, usually not getting any taller than about 40’ high. It occurs in a broad area, from New Jersey well into the Midwest, south to lower Texas and the Florida panhandle. It is one of the “red” oaks, and thus features tiny bristles on the tips of young leaves, as well as acorns which remain on the tree for two seasons before falling. (Species in the “white” oak group lack leaf bristles, and their acorns mature in one season.)
Mature trees commonly have an irregularly-shaped crown, and I’ve often noticed that the crowns have a lot of dead, persisting branches hanging on. In very “poor” sites it may be a somewhat scrubby species, scarcely a tree. The bark is roughly fissured and very dark (nearly black), and its wood is quite hard, tough and durable. Because of the irregular crown, though, and its slow growth, this oak is not important as a timber species. Its wood has been used rather unglamorously for fence posts and railroad ties (in the olden days), and as a source of charcoal. Unfortunately, perhaps, this species isn’t going to be winning many beauty contests, nor does it seem to have become popular for landscaping. After all, it’s one of a series of species that most people refer to as “scrub” oaks, growing in poor upland soils, in what most people would think are rather desperate habitats.
On the other hand, these trees have plenty of charm. There are several in yards around my old neighborhood (Shandon), parts of which are indeed an urbanized sandhill ecosystem. The trees look quite a bit different from their relatives, and given enough time, can exhibit a sort of bold, craggy look. The leaves are especially handsome, and somewhat unusual for oaks. The leaf blades are prominently widened toward the tip, usually exhibiting three (sometimes five) broadly rounded humps or “shoulders” The leaves are relatively thick and sturdy, and because of this, they tend to remain on the ground intact, rather than crumbling as many other oaks’ dried leaves do during the winter. The lower surface of the leaf blade is somewhat dull, soft and felty, but the upper surface of the living leaves, fully expanded, is a bright, lustrous green.
