Chestnut Oak is a large tree in the White Oak group that is a dominant tree of rocky hilltops and mountains in the Piedmont and Mountain regions of North Carolina.

Hanging Rock, Stokes Co., NC 5/27/12.

The leaves are evenly and bluntly toothed, slightly reminiscent of the sharply toothed leaves of American Chestnut (Castanea dentata).

Acorn.

This species is also known as Quercus prinus. The name prinus is older, but it's not clear whether it refers to Chestnut Oak or Swamp Chestnut Oak (Q. michauxii). The name prinus was formally rejected in 2007. See Weakley's Flora for details.

Chestnut Oak's bark is very distinctive, with long, deep, tight ridges.

The bark is deeply ridged even on medium-small trees.

The only similar bark in our area is found on the otherwise dissimilar Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum).

Bark of a large tree.

Orange Co., NC 3/11/07.

Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.

Orange Co., NC 9/4/2012.

Orange Co., NC 9/4/2012.

Orange Co., NC 9/4/2012.

Orange Co., NC 9/4/2012.