Quercus alba – White Oak

If Red Oak is King-of-the-Oaks then perhaps White Oak is their Queen. More adaptable to drier conditions than Red Oak, it develops a massive trunk and, particularly when grown in the open, huge limbs that often parallel the ground, defying gravity. It’s not a great urban or street tree however – that role should be left to a close relation, Swamp White Oak (Q. bicolor). It’s somewhat slow-growing, but extremely long-lived – it measures its lifespan in centuries, not decades. The oldest trees are over 600 years old. The white oak group produces the best acorns for sustaining wildlife.