FAGACEAE - - Beech Family

Quercus muehlenbergii Engelmann — Chinquapin Oak

Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) - Tree becoming 50 m. tall, the bark silvery white and often tinged with brown, broken into loose scales; leaf-blades lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 5—20 cm. long, coursely serrate, with usually somewhat flaring teeth, minutely pubescent beneath or glabrate; acorns sessile, or nearly so; cup hemispheric, 12—17 mm. wide; nut ovoid, 15—20 mm. long.

Habitat:

Slopes and bluffs, on soils derived from calcareous or mafic rocks. The similar Q. montana sometimes has a few leaves with somewhat sharply lobed leaves, but these are minutely mucronate and lack the well-developed callus of Q. muehlenbergii. Additionally, Q. muehlenbergii has a flaky, light gray bark, very different from the dark gray, deeply furrowed bark of Q. montana.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Quercus muehlenbergii (Chinquapin Oak)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Quercus muehlenbergii (Chinquapin Oak)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.