Index / Search / Quercus nigra

§1 Plant

Quercus nigra L.

vernacular water oak — species · Fagaceae


USDA
QUNI
GBIF
2879328
Rank
species
water oak (Quercus nigra)
Platephotograph · Nicholas CoweyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fagaceae Dumort.
Genus
Quercus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 609 counties across 15 states/territories
Legend Native · 609 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
None
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-20 °F minimum
Frost-free days
190 min.
Precipitation
35–70 in/yr
pH range
4.8–7.3
Root depth
40 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
90 ft
Height @ 20 y
30 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
395
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 609 counties across 15 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 61 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 62 N
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 38 N
Georgia view state ↗ 140 N
Indiana view state ↗ 1 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 9 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 61 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 68 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 2 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 56 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 45 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 29 N
Virginia view state ↗ 34 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/QUNI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2879328 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z