Quercus L. (Fagaceae)
A genus of about 350-530 speciesof trees and shrubs; temperate, subtropical, and rarely tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Oaks are the predominant tree of our area, with a variety of species dominating much of the landscape in nearly every ecological situation. Only in a few specialized (and usually in some sense edaphically extreme) communities are oaks generally entirely absent: deepest Coastal Plain swamps, some Coastal Plain depression ponds, wettest pine savannas, pocosins, spruce-fir forests, highest elevation northern hardwood forests, and mountain bogs.
Thirty species occur in North Carolina. Only Q. acutissima is considered non-native.
Oaks can be conceptually divided into four groups based on leaf morphology. For a description of each group, mouse-over the respective image. Keys to the species in each group can be accessed through the expand buttons:
