Georgia oak
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 Georgia oak leaves
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| Quercus georgiana M. A. Curtis |
The Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana), also called the Stone Mountain oak, is a rare deciduous oak. It is native to the southeastern United States, with a very restricted range in the southern Appalachian Mountains and outlying monadnocks, mainly in northern Georgia, but also very locally in portions of Alabama and South Carolina. It grows on dry granite and sandstone outcrops of mountain slopes at 50-500 m altitude.
It is a small tree, often shrubby, growing to 8-15 m (25-50 feet) tall. The shiny green leaves are 4-13 cm (2-5 inches) long and 2-9 cm wide, with a 0.6-2.3 cm petiole, and five irregular, pointed, bristle-tipped lobes; they are glabrous (hairless), except for small but conspicuous tufts of hairs in the vein axils on the underside. The leaves turn dark red to brown in the autumn, stay on the tree throughout the winter, and fall as the new leaves bud in the spring. The acorns are round, 9-14 mm long, maturing about 18 months after pollination.
The Georgia oak is classified in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. The tree was first discovered in 1849 at Stone Mountain, Georgia, where several specimens grow along the popular walk-up trail. In the wild they are often shrub-like.
It is occasionally cultivated as a specimen or garden tree in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-8. Besides landscape horticulture, the Georgia oak has no commercial uses.
[edit] References
- Nixon, K. et al. (1998). Quercus georgiana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2ce v2.3)
- Flora of North America - Quercus georgiana
