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NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Quercus lyrata

Overcup Oak

Scientific Name:

Quercus lyrata

Genus:

Quercus

Species Epithet:

lyrata

Common Name:

Overcup Oak

Plant Type

Tree

Life Cycle

Perennial

Plant Family

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

Native/Alien:

NC Native

Size:

36-72 ft., 72-100 ft.

Bloom Color(s):

Green

Light:

Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day

Soil Moisture:

Moist, Wet

Bloom Time:

March, April

Growing Area:

Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain

Habitat Description:

Seasonally rather deeply and frequently flooded soils of floodplains of the Coastal Plain, less commonly in seasonally flooded swamps in Triassic basins in the lower Piedmont, and rarely in upland depression swamps of the Piedmont (developed over clays weathered from mafic rocks) and Coastal Plain. Primarily a species of the Southeastern Coastal Plain (Weakley 2015). Rare in NC Piedmont, common in Coastal Plain.

Leaf Arrangement:

Alternate

Leaf Retention:

Deciduous

Leaf Type:

Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like

Leaf Form:

Simple

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Wildlife Value:

Highest Wildlife Value

Landscape Value:

Suitable for home landscapes

State Rank:

S5: Secure (*Key)

Global Rank:

G5 - Secure (*Key)

In winter

Note the bark which is similar to White Oak, Q. alba. Overcup oak prefers wetter soil.

image

C. Paynter, Feb, 2010, Jack Spruill's yard, Hampstead

Leaves

image

Jack Spruill, July 2010, Hampstead

Acorns

The cap almost completely covers the nut.

image

Jack Spruill, July, 2010, Hampstead

Mature Acorns

image

© Jack Spruill, November 2010, Hampstead

Here is a photo taken on 16 November 2011 of the same Quercus Lyrata (Overcup Oak) tree that Cary Paynter and I photographed earlier in the year (the preceding images above).

Links:

USDA PLANTS Database Record



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