Quercus bicolor ▪︎ Swamp White Oak

Latin Name: Quercus bicolor
Common Name: Swamp White Oak

Cultivar:
Family: Fagaceae
Division: White
Native range: Quebec to Georgia, to Minnesota and Arkansas
Introduced:
Sun/Shade: sun
Height: 50'-60'
Form: broad, open, round-top crown
Zones: 4-8

Flower: Monoecious, staminate: catkins

Leaves: 3"- 7" × 1¼" × 4" wide, lobes not deep (wavy to halfway to midrib); lustrous dark green above and whitish, tomentose or grayish-green and velvety beneath (distinguishing ID characteristic); leathery. Young trees hold their leaves.

Fall Color: usually yellow, sometimes with reddish-purple.

Fruit: Nut. Acorns are 1", usually paired, cap covers 1/3+, shiny light brown nut, 1"-4" peduncles.

Buds: light chestnut brown.

Bark: flakey grayish brown, deep fissures and flat ridges.

Wildlife: Acorns are eaten by numerous bird species including upland game birds and White-Breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay, Common Grackle, Rusty Blackbird, Brown Thrasher, and Woodpeckers. Black bear, raccoon, white-tailed deer, white-footed mouse, and various tree squirrels forage on the acorns as well. For detailed information about insect associations see Illinois Wildflower's Quercus bicolor page.

Disease issues: none serious

Euro-American Cultural Uses:

Indigenous Cultural Uses: Acorns used for food.
A few examples as listed in the University of Michigan Ethnobotany Database (http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Quercus+bicolor):

Bark boiled with hemlock and soft maple bark and the liquid used to clean the rust from traps. The solution was believed to prevent the trap from becoming rusty again.
• Iroquois Drug, Misc. Disease Remedy
Compound decoction of bark taken for cholera.
• Iroquois Drug, Orthopedic Aid
Compound decoction of bark taken for broken bones.
• Iroquois Drug, Respiratory Aid
Compound of leaves smoked and exhaled through the nostrils for catarrh.
• Iroquois Drug, Tuberculosis Remedy
Compound decoction of bark chips taken for consumption.
• Iroquois miscellaneous
Used "when wife runs around, takes away lonesomeness."

Folklore:

Notes: Good drought resistance, though it often grows in wet areas.

Where to find Quercus bicolor in Maxwell Arboretum:

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       Acorns   
^{Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org}

       Foliage, upper and underside   
^{Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org}




Form, in the wild, Ohio
  ^{T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org}
Bark

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