Swamp Bur acorns

[scott44]

I have what I thought was a Bur oak and now I think it is a hybrid Swamp/Bur by what I've found and had discussions on here. Anyways over the last couple years since I found this tree on our property I've started a couple RM's trays of the acorns per year. I'm scaling back this year and have 25-30 acorns that I am willing to ship to someone who would like them, just PM me and I'll get them out. I float tested them last fall when I put them away and I just floated them again today and they are all sinkers, they have been stored in the fridge and about 1/3 of them have broke dormancy.

Couple pics of what the tree looks like and the acorns.

 

[scott44]

These are gone.

 

[OakSeeds]

Scott ... just curious, what makes you think the tree is a cross between a SWO and BO?

 

[scott44]

Scott ... just curious, what makes you think the tree is a cross between a SWO and BO?

There was a thread on here a couple years ago about a swamp/bur oak some pics and I thought they looked like mine, I have no proof one way or another just a guess. http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/swamp-hybrid-bur-oaks.5601/page-2

 

[bwoods11]

I found a few hybrids while walking my IA farm in August. I think there are more out than they landowners realize.

 

[OakSeeds]

Scott ... it appears very likely you may have a hybrid white oak displaying characteristics - as you note - of both BO and SWO. If we examine the characteristics for identifying white oak species including leaves, flowers, bark, fruit, form and native range ... I would suggest your tree exhibits mostly the traits of Bur Oak. It's leaves are clearly that of a BO. The (fruit) acorns exhibit the characteristics of BO .... not the pronounced gum-drop shape of a SWO and a cap with pronounced fringe plus attachment to tree without the 2-3" peduncle found on SWO trees. The main characteristic of your tree reflecting SWO is the bark (pattern), and while the bark on most types of white oak trees can vary substantially when the trees are quite young/immature, young SWOs frequently display bark similar to that on your tree. Either way, that tree is a winner and you are smart to attempt to cultivate more of them. Since oak trees grow from the inside out -so to speak - they (like some folks ... mainly women) often exfoliate (bark peeling or shedding). I hope the ones you grow all display characteristics reflecting robust cgrowth and frequent, heavy fruiting. Here are a couple great sites for identifying trees.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/tri_state/tristate_2015/Talks/PDFs/hayektree ID.pdf
https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/fieldguide.pdf
http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/swampwhiteoak


Univ of TN extension dept. of agriculture says ....
"Most trees have a growth spurt in the spring. When moisture is plentiful and the sap is rising to support newly formed leaves, tree trunks expand from the living cambium cells. This is a ring of cells just under the bark. As the tree expands in diameter and circumference, the inflexible, dead cells of the bark are pushed further out and are not able to stay attached to the tree trunk. Thus the bark exfoliates. This is a natural process that occurs every year. In some years and in certain trees there may be more growth. We have had several years of fall drought which have stunted growth. Now abundant fall and spring rains have caused some trees to have a growth spurt.
The same process occurs in all trees. Some trees like red oak have thick, tighter bark. This bark is more corky and flexible. This bark is able to hang on the tree, retain more flexibility, and exfoliates much more slowly than those with thinner bark. Trees like white oak have thin, flaky bark." (emphasis added)