Tree Description:
A large forest tree reaching heights of 100 feet or more and a trunk to 3 feet in diameter, with a wide-spreading, symmetrical crown. It often occurs as a single tree or in small groups in forest stands, and is an excellent landscape tree.
Range/Site Description:
Occurs in East Texas on well-drained alluvial soils and on fertile slopes, west to the Balcones Escarpment near Austin and San Antonio and then northeast to Dallas and the Red River.
Leaf:
Simple, alternate, 6" to 8" long and 4" to 5" wide, usually with 7 to 9 bristle-tipped lobes (rarely 5), the widest lobes on the upper half of the leaf, with one or more pairs of deep, rounded sinuses between the lobes. Leaves are glossy, dark green on top, light green and smooth beneath, except for small tufts of pubescence in the axils of the veins.
Flower:
Male and female flowers borne in spring on the same tree, the male flowers on catkins 6" to 7" long, the female flowers solitary or paired in the leaf axils.
Fruit:
An acorn, requiring two years to mature, 0.75" to 1.25" long and 0.5" to 1" in diameter, set only at the base in a shallow, saucer-like cup.
Bark:
Dark gray, smooth and tight at first, but developing flat, interlacing ridges and rough fissures with age. Old trees can have deep fissures between the smooth ridges.
Wood:
Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and light reddish-brown in color, and commercially important for lumber, furniture, flooring, interior trim, and veneer.
Similar Species:
Texas oak (Quercus buckleyi) is a closely-related Central Texas counterpart to Shumard oak, but typically has smaller leaves and acorns; southern red oak (Q. falcata) has more variable leaves with pubescent undersides and small acorns; black oak (Q. velutina) has larger leaves with more regular lobing and a fringed acorn cup.
Interesting Facts:
This species was named for Benjamin Franklin Shumard (1820-1869), a former state geologist of Texas who organized the the first comprehensive geological survey of Texas.
