Wood Species: Oak (White)

Scientific Name: Quercus alba

Trade Name: White Oak, Stave Oak

Family Name: Fagaceae

Common Names: Basket Oak, Chestnut Oak, Cow Oak, Mountain Oak, Rock Oak, Swamp Oak, Tanbark Oak, Eastern White Oak, Stave Oak, Ridge White Oak, Cucharillo, Encino, and Roble

Regions of Distribution: Widely over the Northern Hemisphere

Countries of Distribution: United States, Canada

Appearance

Color: Has little difference between the heartwood and the sapwood, bark is white to light gray, to light brown throughout, mature leaves are a dull blue-green, and new leaves are bright grayish green except in the autumn where the leaves are reddish-purple.

Grain: Lower half of the tree is primarily scaly with small fissures in the bark, but a little over halfway up the tree, the bark starts to look more like overlapping plates which are a big identifying factor for this type of tree.

Variations within species and grades: The White Oak is occasionally confused with the Swamp White Oak (a closely related species) or the Bur Oak.

Properties

Hardness/Janka: 1360 (slightly higher than Red Oak)

Dimensional Stability: Average dimensional stability (1% more stable than Red Oak)

Origin: Eastern United States

Availability: Readily available (15.1% of commercial hardwoods available in the United States)

Average and Maximum Lifespan: 300-600 years

Workability

Sawing/Machining: Good machining qualities.

Sanding: Can be difficult at times in comparison to Red Oak.

Nailing: Works excellently with nails.

Finishing: Most finishers are acceptable, but special care must be taken with bleach or water based finishers because they have the potential to stain the flooring green or brown over time.

Common Uses: Used in landscape for shade, used in hardwood flooring and furniture, ship building, high quality wood for cabinets, as a fuel product, and the tannic acid can be used to produce dyes. The wood is often used to make martial arts weapons and barrels for wines because of the waterproof qualities.

Detailed Description

Plant habit and lifestyle: Large deciduous tree, ranges from 60-80’ tall, and is about as wide or wider than it is tall.

Stems: Bright green at first, but later turn a reddish-green color which leads to the bright gray final condition. Twigs take 2-4 years to mature.

Buds: Appear in winter in a reddish-brown color and are 1/8 of an inch long. They are smooth and rounded and the buds at the end of the stems cluster together.

Leaves: Alternate leaf arrangement, leaves are 4”-8” long with 5 to 9 rounded lobes, mature leaves are a dull blue-green and young leaves are a bright grayish green.

Flowers: The flowers are monocots and bloom in May. They have a messy arrangement and a yellow-green color until the autumn season where the color changes to purple-red.

Fruits: Acorns are usually sessile, rounds out at the apex and are light brown. They range from ¾ of an inch to 1 inch long. They are hairy on the inside and ripen in September after only one season. The acorns are considerably more bitter than those of Red Oaks, but can still be eaten.

Habitat: The White Oak is primarily a lowland tree, but can mature in a good variety of areas including valleys, ridges, wetlands, dry lands, in mildly acidic or mildly alkaline soils.

Special Diagnostic Characteristics: Staminate flowers in pendant catkins, pistillate flowers alone or in a small group, pistillate flowers encased in scaly involucres which develop in acorn cups.