Mystery oak ID help?

[j-bird]

I found this in a local strip mall and I was able to reach some acorns but I am not sure exactly what it is. At first I thought it was a bur oak, but the lobes are not deep enough even though the bark looks very similar. The acorns are about the size of the end of your thumb from about the first knuckle forward, so I would not consider them "big". Tree was roughly 30 feet tall or so. Seemed to be doing just fine in the strip mall setting and I figured it might be some sort of of specialty oak as I am sure it was planted and NOT there by mother natures hands. I'm pretty sure it's a white oak of some sort, but other than that it doesn't fit the other oaks I am familiar with that are native to my area.

 

[wiscwhip]

Some kind of bur hybrid would be my guess. Leaves can be so variable on hybrids it isn't funny. I can see multiple variations of leaf form on that one tree. Could be Schuette's(bur/SWO), the bark looks similar to others I have seen, but then again, a lot of hybrid oak bark patterns are similar as well? How long has it been there? Maybe someone has the landscaping plans for the mall, those would indicate what was supposed to be planted in that location(I look at them all the time out of curiosity for the projects we bid, even though it has nothing to do with the steel structure:oops:).

 

[OakSeeds]

I found this in a local strip mall and I was able to reach some acorns but I am not sure exactly what it is. At first I thought it was a bur oak, but the lobes are not deep enough even though the bark looks very similar. The acorns are about the size of the end of your thumb from about the first knuckle forward, so I would not consider them "big". Tree was roughly 30 feet tall or so. Seemed to be doing just fine in the strip mall setting and I figured it might be some sort of of specialty oak as I am sure it was planted and NOT there by mother natures hands. I'm pretty sure it's a white oak of some sort, but other than that it doesn't fit the other oaks I am familiar with that are native to my area.

See the stem on that acorn; that is a peduncle. Those are characteristic of English Oaks and Swamp White Oaks. Since English Oaks have acorns quite different from those on this tree, it is very likely the tree is largely SWO ... especially after looking at the bark on the trunk of the tree. That is not to say is may be a cross with some other member of the white oak family.

 

[j-bird]

See the stem on that acorn; that is a peduncle. Those are characteristic of English Oaks and Swamp White Oaks. Since English Oaks have acorns quite different from those on this tree, it is very likely the tree is largely SWO ... especially after looking at the bark on the trunk of the tree. That is not to say is may be a cross with some other member of the white oak family.

You mention that the acorn has a stem and your right now that I think about it. It wasn't tight to the branch like most oaks I am familiar with.....they all had a "stem" so to speak. I will use your "peduncle" and do some more digging.

 

[Needmorebrush82]

Bur x Swamp Hybrid. I snatched some acorns off of an identical tree that was between two large Burs earlier this week. Instead of a super hairy cap the hairs are much shorter and almost look like they are stuck to the cap. Acorns are usually smaller than the golf ball sized Bur acorns around here. The acorns we found were between a quarter and half dollar size. The gold tinge on the leaves give it away as a bur, for some reason all burs look that way when they are about to drop or dropping.

 

[wiscwhip]

^^^ this is what I suspected above as well.

 

[j-bird]

Well I also consulted "the Guru" and Native agrees it is some sort of SWO/Bur cross......so I will be stopping by and picking the others as soon as I can and getting them into the ground. I will also make a mental note of where these are and hopefully return year after year to snatch a few.

 

[Needmorebrush82]

They te

Well I also consulted "the Guru" and Native agrees it is some sort of SWO/Bur cross......so I will be stopping by and picking the others as soon as I can and getting them into the ground. I will also make a mental note of where these are and hopefully return year after year to snatch a few.

They tend to want to split open around here. At least every other acorn was cracked here. I have no idea what that is about, just an observation. I am going to use mine as an early dropping acorn source. The pure burs should start dropping in a few weeks. What I can't figure out is why the hybrids are already dropping yet the burs and the swamps in the area have not started to drop yet. Either case like I said I will take it as a valuable early dropping food source to fill a stressful period.

 

[wiscwhip]

^^^ Interesting?!? Do you notice them "splitting" every year consistently, or do you notice it more during certain weather conditions such as drought or overly wet conditions? Where are you located?

 

[Needmorebrush82]

^^^ Interesting?!? Do you notice them "splitting" every year consistently, or do you notice it more during certain weather conditions such as drought or overly wet conditions? Where are you located?

Honestly we just found this tree about a week ago so I have no knowledge of what is normal for it. I found it odd that half of the acorns were split when burs are generally good about not cracking. It has been an average yr and I believe the area the tree is in is irrigated so moisture should not be a major issue. The animals were cleaning them up at a rapid rate! The tree is located in Central OK.

 

[j-bird]

I have since found another tree and it was "loaded" and I pulled acorns that came out of the cap for some time - filled a large fast food cup. I'll be back in about a week for round two - I left the green ones......for now! This tree appears to produce far better than the other so I hope these same traits are in the acorns.