| The stately White Oak, one of our most familiar trees, is a large overstory tree that grows in a wide variety of habitats. When open grown, White Oak is pyramidal in shape when young, but large trees have a distinctively round canopy shape. White Oak is common throughout North Carolina and the eastern United States and Canada, found from Texas to Quebec and Maine, Minnesota to Florida. The leaves are blue-green above and have rounded lobes with deep sinuses. Person Co., NC 6/10/2009.
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| Leaf undersides are glaucous (whitish). Granville Co., NC 5/20/2012.
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| The bark on medium-sized branches is broken into broad scaly flakes. Person Co., NC 6/10/2009.
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| Male flowers appear in early spring as the trees leaf out. Haywood Co., NC 5/9/08.
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| Emerging leaves may be silvery. Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.
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| Leaves are lobed but not toothed. Durham Co., NC 9/10/02.
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| Galls, which are not uncommon, can be very ornamental. This is the Wool Sower gall, produced by a gall wasp called the Wool Sower (Callirhytis seminator). Wake Co., NC 4/26/04.
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| The bark is pale gray. On medium-sized trees it is often broken into rectangular blocks. Durham Co., NC 9/10/02.
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| Some large trees also have bark broken into rectangular blocks. Orange Co., NC 10/15/06.
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| However, the bark on large trees is usually broken into scaly broad plates. Durham Co., NC 9/10/02.
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More information:
NC State Fact Sheet
Trees of Alabama and the Southeast
Silvics Manual
Virginia Tech Dendrology
Recommended Tree, Shrub, and Woody Vine Identification Guides
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