Quercus Alba
Leaves
(in the summer)
Acorn
Leaves
(in the fall)
Bark
One of the many tree’s that originate in the United States, and likely one of the most important is the Quercus Alba, commonly known as the White Oak tree. The White Oak tree originates in Eastern North America region, but also found from Southern Quebec West to Eastern Minnesota and south to Northern Florida and Eastern Texas. White Oaks were first discovered in the beginning of the Pre-Colonial Era; Native Americans use the tree to make flour.
White Oak trees produce a nut commonly known as an acorn. The acorn is the food of choice for many different species, which includes white-footed mouse, fox, squirrel, black bear, pine mouse, red squirrel, and cottontail rabbits. White Oaks are important because there are environmental benefits as well as human uses for this type of tree. The environmental benefits include the tree helping with the climate by seizing carbon in the root systems and through long-lived wood products. White oak human uses include furniture, veneer, paneling, and flooring. White oak has also been used for railroad ties, fence posts, mine timbers, ships, and caskets; white oak is also a major source of wood for whiskey barrels.
There are threats that are causing a decline in White Oaks. One threat is the gypsy moth, which lays eggs in the tree, which then hatch into caterpillars that end up feeding on the leaves of the tree. White Oaks are also threatened by different diseases, which includes oak leaf blister, bacterial leaf scorch, actinopelte leaf spot, powdery mildew, armillaria root rot, hypoxylan canker, pine-oak gall rust, mistletoe, lichens, Spanish moss, and oak worms. Certain tree’s are more susceptible to disease due to multiple years of defoliation by insects, lack of rain, and improper planting. White Oaks reproduce by wind pollination. White Oaks adapt due to their thick leaves.