When we first moved to this area I had a little knowledge of trees. (who am I kidding? I had none!!) A tree that is prevalent in our area has narrow leaves, is an oak, and is incorrectly called a Pin Oak. I suppose the name has stuck because of the 'pin' shape of the leaf. The leaf of the Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, is a narrow blade approximately 2 to 5 inches in length. It is very similar to the willow tree's leaf. The dark green leaf turns yellow-brown in the fall. It is not a very showy autumn color. The underside is smooth and light green. The margins are smooth.
The Willow Oak is a straight and tall tree in the landscape. At maturity it can be upwards of 80- 100 feet tall. It has a spreading growth pattern with upward growing scaffolding maturing to a rounded crown. Notice the limbs in both of the photos of the entire tree. The acorns are small, round with caps that cover about 1/4 of the nut. This picture was tough to get as the acorns were up in the tree...so not the clearest photo, I apologize.
The bark is gray and smooth when the tree is young and developes ridges as it ages.
This tree was trimmed to be away from the utility lines. Since the front half of the limbs are trimmed you can see the vase shaped growth of the limbs.
Now for some of the good online references. Virginia Tech tree ID, US Forestry Service, Missouri Botanical Garden, North Carolina State University, and finally Vanderbilt University.
Some additional links thanks to Phillip at how it grows.... some of the remarkable trees of Virginia. Gloucester
Fall colors-
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| From swamp chestnut oak swamp white oak Learning Garden |
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| From swamp chestnut oak swamp white oak Learning Garden |
Next week's tree-- Little Leaf Linden
