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Botanical Name: Quercus palustris
Common Name: Pin Oak
Origin: NE. North America
Location: CNE, CNW, CSE, CSW
Notable Feature: The canopy of the Pin Oak is considered one of its most distinctive features: the upper branches point upwards, the middle branches are perpendicular to the trunk, and the lower branches droop downwards. Commonly called Swamp Oak because it is tolerant of wet soils, poorly drained soils, and occasional flooding.
Habit: Pyramidal, deciduous tree with central leader; pendulous lower branches, middle horizontal and upper upright; can grow to 60 to 70 feet tall. Branches are studded with numerous branchlets that do not prune readily, resulting in a spiny appearance.
Flower: Yellowish green flowers are borne in separate (monoecious) male and female catkins that appear on the same tree in spring as the leaves emerge.
Fruit: Solitary or clustered acorn, ½” long, and light brown with thin saucer-like cup that barely covers the acorn base.
Foliage: Deciduous, glossy, dark green in summer; russet bronze or red in fall; typically have 5 bristle-tipped lobes with deeply cut sinuses extending close to the midrib; 3 to 6” long.
Bark: Gray-brown, thin, smooth aging to narrow, shallow ridges and furrows.
Interesting Fact: One of the fastest growing oaks: 12 to 15 feet over 5 to 7 years. Pin oak is also the most popular commercial oak of eastern North America, having been widely planted as both a street and a landscape tree.