Tree Talk: White Oak

I could talk about this tree, white oak (Quercus alba), for ages!! Oak ecology is fascinating and complex, and merits its own Tree Talk someday. For now, we discuss the identification, natural history, and utility of white oak, with some quick broader lessons about this important genus.
Don't forget to subscribe to this channel and our newsletter (at www.forestsforthebay.org/news...) for more goods from the woods!
Recorded on 1/23/21 in Lebanon County, PA. Recorded and edited by shade-intolerant Allyson Wells.

[@EmeraldForester777]

I had a white oak as a kid that was over 500 years old. Giant tree, about 7 feet in diameter and over 150 feet tall. Gorgeous tree.

[@AidanSWalsh]

I wouldn't mind an extended video about white oaks. They've always been a favorite tree of mine. Really great delivery too!

[@winstonchurchill3597]

@NBKAWTG Nobody You are correct about Post Oaks looking like haunted house trees. I still prefer the White Oak though - king of the hardwoods in my opinion.

[@jseadog1394]

Ryan, you are a great teacher! I have been nuturing my few White Oaks for a few years. Several are bigguns and I planted several others. Ya really motivate me to persist in my efforts. Thanks!

[@matthewmoss1027]

So refreshing to see a video like this, you clearly know your stuff!

[@wingking077]

Awesome man, good fact about the bats. In my eyes it’s a treasure to our forests right behind the near extinct American chestnut.

[@Jona_Villa]

Perfect Latin name pronunce: Quercus alba. Bravissimo. I'm Italian.

[@stevemurray6543]

Your videos are always looked forward to and appreciated. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm.

[@sailor382]

Very informative! Glad I found your channel. I had no idea about the bats using the bark as a roost. I'm blessed to have a number of white oak on my property in Mississippi. Now I know where my bats likely stay.

[@mariansmith7694]

Thank you. Good information.

[@danno1800]

Another great video - thank you - much appreciated!

[@pamsmith7369]

I see your little beagle at the end there! Was wondering where he was this time!

[@blakespower]

I found a 5 foot oak under a bunch of japanese honeysuckle vines, horrible plants smothering small trees, I freed the oak I dont know how long it was under there but I expect next year it will finally grow into a large tree with rapid growth has full sunshine too, hope it shades out all the japanese honeysuckles

[@oneranger8239]

Great educational videos...appreciate the insight & connecting the importance of nature to people

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Thank you!

[@whatabouttheearth]

Go on BONAP and look up the county map list by genus (on the right side of the page), look for a genus, for example, Quercus (Oaks), and you'll find every damn oak in your county, state, and the entire country with a map for each species. BONAP is a great tool PS: Marines lead the way (;

[@markjones5561]

Thanks Newt. Always enjoy your videos. That Ryan fella's pretty good too. ;)

[@johnbarth684]

Good point on why my area only has a few red oaks. Bad forestry habits wiped out the best species. I've been planting several species of oak every few years. My hope is they will spread over the years.

[@user-je6lg4ll2f]

This video was awesome! Super informational and a great study tool! Thanks!

[@factsoveremotions6035]

White Oak is top notch firewood. Very high BTU and easy splitting.

[@advancedmachiningsystems7760]

Excellent video. Thanks for the education and I think your recommendations related to white oak and its regeneration are right on.

[@johnnyjeep8350]

Great video very informative

[@user-tg4gq3xn9m]

That looks like a beautifully large Kalmia latifolia begins you in this video!

[@ericwanderweg8525]

I have a couple bags of white/swamp white oak acorns in stratification now. Hopefully I can protect them from predation this spring and have at least a handful of seedlings make it.

[@garypratt1453]

Excellent presentation

[@ForestHogOutdoors]

Thanks dude!

[@hanzifaction]

I’ve noticed there’s different phenotypes of white oak, that look a lot like burr oak. Leaves with small lobes, very furrowed bark with deep ridges. They can be tricky. This tree is an example of classic white oak.

[@mwb3984]

Or chinkapin oak.

[@VicsYard]

Great video and agree with everything he said.

[@trondsi]

We don't have white oak here in California (I think), but we have magnificent valley oaks which I believe are related.

[@whatabouttheearth]

Yes you do. Go on BONAP and look up the county map list by genus (on the right side of the page), look for Quercus (Oaks), and you'll find every damn oak in your county, state, and the entire country lol, it's a great tool The genus Quercus (Oaks) only has one subgenus in the western hemisphere, also name Quercus. The Quercus subgenus is divided into sections, the vastly predominant sections in the western hemisphere are section Quercus (White Oaks) and section Lobatae (red oaks) Yes, it's Quercus quercus quercus (Genus subgenus section), rediculous.

[@whatabouttheearth]

Clarification: Quercus alba are "white oaks" but the section quercus are the white oaks (including Quercus alba). California does not have Quercus alba (the species), but they have section quercus (the white oaks). Sorry I was thinking section in my first comment This is exactly why it's good to learn the "binomial nomenclature" (2 part name), meaning genus (always capitalized) and species (always lowercase), for example: Quercus alba (the species "white oak") is genus Quercus (oaks) and the species alba. Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak), Quercus stellata (post oak), etc

[@nathanielsnyder1323]

Im a hobbyist woodworker I'm building a new bed. For my wife and I out of quarter sawn white oak. 15$ a board foot in my area. Walnut and Quarter sawn white oak are the big hitters in bespoke furniture.

[@garypratt1453]

I have a large Red oak near my house ,looks healty ,maybe 80 years old???

[@fiatveloce2516]

This is the most underrated band ever! I saw these guys in Pamona back in ‘68. Those were good times. Today’s music can’t hold a candle to the bands from the 60’s. Every time I hear this song I think of my father. I miss him terribly. Peace to all.

[@hashslingingslasher748]

What?

[@scottwebber652]

I found a couple of whites that grow huge acorns- like quarter sized n with the caps on canb as big as a ping pong ball. Said to b a burr variety but haven’t seen any other comparable in size. I have a few of them which r starting to produce acorns but have to fight off squirrels but they r the big ones. Really would like to know what it is that/why the acorns are so big/ huge almost walnut sized??

[@jenniferschade7553]

Great video, I feel like I should join a class! I just purchased a Mexican White Oak for Zone 7 and wanted to find information on this. Is this information relevant as well to that tree?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Thank you!! Mexican white oak, Quercus polymorpha, is a different species that I know very little about! It's quite different from Quercus alba, though. I'd recommend checking out this or another similar resource for more info: texastreeid.tamu.edu/content/TreeDetails/?id=105 Happy planting!

[@jenniferschade7553]

@@forestsforthebay4784 Thank you so much for the response!

[@darrininverarity4297]

Don’t leave young saplings unprotected,they will get eaten by rabbits and deers because it’s leaves have a sweet taste so put a little fence around them for about 20 years.

[@mattgrizz1153]

Pls do a video of all the different white and red oaks in the eastern United States.

[@forestsforthebay4784]

We'll get to em all eventually!

[@C0br4_DD]

Does black truffle grow under white oaks

[@jxk7712]

Someone please help, I have a family treasure red oak maybe 150 years old and straight and beautiful directly in the front of my walkway, brilliant….. my dilemma, although the tree acts and looks healthy there’s a lot of ant climbing and for the past couple of years, a giant chicken of the woods mushroom by it base. My wife had used wood chips at base…. I’ve heard that the delicacy mushroom means my tree is dying; please someone help with info, please!!!

[@PinkCakesandTea]

Can someone please answer me this burning question? Can a white oak tree be (imported and) grown in Ireland? Thanks in advance!

[@forestsforthebay4784]

You may be able to grow one, but we strongly recommend only planting species which are native to your region. Introducing a species can result in unintended negative ecological consequences, whether that means the spread of the species or the introduction of plant pests that can be devastating (for example, the American chestnut nearly went extinct due to a fungal infection brought to North America on Chinese chestnut rootstock)

[@anthonyhettinger9702]

I wished i could post pic of mine here

[@kiwiprouddavids724]

I just got into home brewing , I think I found a white oak the other day that I can get some wood off for ageing alcohol

[@blakespower]

its hard to tell a english oak apart from a white oak, or can someone explain the difference?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Range is often a great place to start with plant identification. If you're in the woods in the eastern US, it's highly unlikely that you'll come upon an English oak (Q. robur). I don't know English oak very well but I recommend comparing the bark; white oak has quite distinctive colored and shaped bark, especially with the shaggy plates on upper branches. English oak has darker grey bark which splits into ridges and furrows as the tree ages, rather than flaky plates. Hope that helps!

[@davidhofmann7886]

Do white oak grow in Wyoming?

[@whatabouttheearth]

The genus Quercus (Oaks) only has one subgenus in the western hemisphere, also name Quercus. The Quercus subgenus is divided into sections, the vastly predominant sections in the western hemisphere are section Quercus (White Oaks) and section Lobatae (red oaks) Yes, it's Quercus quercus quercus (Genus subgenus section), rediculous.

[@user-mi9vh9zc6u]

مرحبا. هل تصبح الجوزة شجرة كبيرة بعد ١٠ سنوات؟

[@jonhohensee3258]

YOU have a warty cap!

[@Risaala]

Which side of the tree does white oak bark usually peel from?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Good question!! The bark strips themselves are usually attached at one side (thinking about it without looking at any trees, it may usually be the left side of the bark strip that remains attached) and peel off on the other. The entire trunk will have shaggy bark all the way around though, formed from all the bark plates which peel on one side. I hope that makes sense!!

[@theresemalmberg955]

You didn't mention insect predation like spongy moths (gypsy moths). I just lost two large white oaks to them. If you've never experienced a spongy month invasion I can tell you it is truly Biblical in scope. They are HORRIBLE.

[@noahv4503]

they usually can survive the spongy moths for a few years and recover but they loose all their leaves they just get new leaves next year

[@noahv4503]

at least that happens with my white oaks just make sure their not stressed also the outbreaks only last a few years

[@WHDeb]

Is there any veracity to the assumption that oaks make more acorns when a hard winter is predicted?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

I don't think so! "Mast cycles" can vary widely from species to species, and have more to do with throwing off predators (squirrels, turkeys, deer, etc) than environmental factors.

[@jerodcarrell5109]

Hey I really liked this video and I am currently on a wildlife team for my school and I am studying these trees and I would like for you to do a video on post oaks

[@andybailey6763]

Whiskey? Bourbon. There’s about 11.5 million barrels of bourbon compared to 4.5 million people in KY. That industry needs all the white oak it can get.

[@themfnnitrorooster7619]

Thank you for your help sir . I'm from Oklahoma 32 and 3rd Gen owner of the very ground my pa cleared 40 archers with an axe and a pick all by hand power but I still have a lot of wood so I'm trying to do right by my pa . 11 walnuts as well but pa told me they ain't to be touched unless a emergency cuz one could pay taxes and if there still standing he said he can die happy knowing his grand kids and great grand kids will always have a home so that's how I intend to leave it . But if there's a giant white oak it's worth way more as a log than wait for it to die and burn it for heat so mutch abliged to yasir

[@atomicdemise]

comments allowed on an educational dendrology video? 😛 please use comments responsibly lol jk. nice video