Quercus laevis

Quercus laevis
American Turkey Oak foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Fagaceae
Genus:	Quercus
Section:	Lobatae
Species:	Q. laevis
Binomial name
Quercus laevis Walter
Quercus laevis native range

Quercus laevis, the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the southeastern United States, occurring on the coastal plain from Delaware south to central Florida, and west to southeast Louisiana. The name turkey oak derives from the resemblance of the leaves to a turkey's foot.^[1] A Turkish and southern European species Quercus cerris is also commonly referred to as Turkey oak, and Quercus laevis is sometimes referred to as American turkey oak to distinguish it from the European species.

Turkey oak trees

It is a small tree, sometimes shrubby, typically only 8–10 metres (26–33 ft) tall, though occasionally reaching 18 metres (59 ft). The leaves are variable in size, mostly 10–17 centimetres (3.9–6.7 in) long but occasionally just 8 centimetres (3.1 in) or as much as 30 centimetres (12 in) long. They have 3–7 slender lobes, deeply incised between the lobes, each lobe with 1–3 bristle teeth at the tip. The acorns are about 20–25 millimetres (0.79–0.98 in) long, and, like other red oaks, take 18 months to mature.

A stand of turkey oaks growing on white sand near the banks of the Ocmulgee River in the state of Georgia

Turkey oak typically grows on poor, thin, dry, rocky or sandy soils where few other oaks other than Blackjack oak, Q. marilandica, can thrive. It does not have the beautiful crown form of many oaks, but is nonetheless a valuable tree for growing on infertile, dry, sandy sites. The deeply lobed leaves are also attractive. It commonly form an understory tree in longleaf pine and other pine stands on sandy knolls in the southeastern United States.

References