BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Quercus falcata | Southern Red Oak 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Southern red oak is a medium- to large-sized native deciduous tree with
a long, straight trunk and upward-reaching branches that form a high
rounded crown.  It lives to about 150 years [4].  Cherrybark oak is
distinguished from the typical variety by its broadly wedge-shaped
instead of rounded leaf bases and by lobes which are rarely falcate and
more nearly at right angles to the midrib than the typical variety.
Cherrybark oak also tends to have a longer branch-free trunk [11].  It
is one of the hardiest and fastest growing red oaks [25].

Cherrybark is the larger of the two varieties, reaching 100 to 130 feet
(30-40 m) in height and 36 to 60 inches (91-152 cm) in d.b.h.  The
typical variety is usually 70 to 80 feet (20-25 m) tall and 24 to 36
inches (60-90 cm) in d.b.h., but it can be larger on good sites [4,25].

The taproot of southern red oak dies back and sinker roots from laterals
take over the vertical root function [25].



RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual:  Southern red oak is monoecious.  Seed production begins when
the tree is about 25 years old with maximum production occurring between
age 50 and 75.  Good crops occur at 1- to 2-year intervals [4,25].

Dissemination is primarily by squirrels and blue jays which transport
and cache acorns.  Abandoned agricultural fields in Mississippi had a
high stocking rate of cherrybark oak seedlings because of caching by
blue jays.  The blue jays appear to search out cherrybark acorns because
of the ease with which the shell is broken and because the acorns are
within a desirable size range for transporting [9].  Floodwaters will
also transport cherrybark oak acorns.  Gravity is an important
dissemination process for the typical variety since it often grows on
steep slopes [4,25].

Germination is hypogeal.  Cool, moist stratification is necessary for
best germination [4,25].  Cherrybark oak begins germination at the
stratification temperature if stratification continues for more than 30
to 45 days.  However, epicotyl emergence does not occur at the
stratification temperature.  Both varieties have a high germinative
capacity [42].

Seedlings grow well in full light [4,25,44].  Cherrybark oak seedlings
seem unaffected by root competition from overstory trees [22].  

Complete inundation of first-year cherrybark seedlings for 3 to 4 days
in June resulted in substantial mortality (only 12.8 percent survived
compared to 89.7 percent of unflooded seedlings).  In the same study,
seedlings survived 3 months of continuous soil saturation during the
growing season without statistically significant growth reductions [22].
However, in a study conducted by Hosner and Boyce [18], 15-, 30-, and
60-day periods of complete soil saturation resulted in 11.1, 46.7, and
86.7 percent mortality respectively for cherrybark oak seedlings that
averaged 11 inches (27.9 cm) in height.  Mortality occurred because
roots died, and no new roots were formed.

Cherrybark seedlings do not grow well beneath a cherrybark canopy in
part because salicylic acid, a phytotoxin, leaches from its leaves
[15,25,49].

Vegetative:  Both varieties sprout from the root crown if top-killed.
Sprouting is most prevalent in young trees 10 inches (25.4 cm) or less
in diameter [4].  A sprout from a top-killed seedling grows faster than
a true seedling [2,28].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
The typical variety of southern red oak occurs on dry, upland sites to
about 2,000 feet (610 m) in elevation.  It is often found on south- and
west-facing slopes or on dry ridgetops.  It grows on sandy, loamy, or
clay soils, most commonly on Ultisols and Alfisols [4].  Southern red
oak does well on calcareous soils, and in Florida it often grows in
shallow sandy soils overlying limestone deposits [33].

Cherrybark oak occurs along large and small streams of the coastal
plains and the Mississippi Valley [25].  It occurs on better drained
portions of floodplains, on bottomlands, and on their margins to about
820 feet (250 m) in elevation [11].  Cherrybark oak also grows on
well-drained hammocks within wet flats.  It is sometimes found on mesic
sites on the rolling hills of the lower Piedmont and on coastal plain
uplands.  It grows primarily on Alfisols and Inceptisols [25].

Cherrybark oak is weakly tolerant of flooding [1].  It grows best under
a regime of winter and spring flooding; soil saturation in the winter
only; and a water table depth of 2 to 6 feet (0.6-1.8 m) during the
growing season.  A water table depth of less than 1 foot (<0.3 m) or
more than 10 feet (>3 m) is unsuitable during the growing season, as is
continous flooding [3].  Sites that meet these conditions are often the
highest and best drained locations in active floodplains including loamy
sites of first bottoms, well-drained terraces and colluvial sites, and
second bottoms.

In addition to those species mentioned in Distribution and Occurrence,
common overstory associates of the typical variety include scarlet oak
(Quercus coccinea), sweetgum, blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), hickory (Carya
spp.), and pitch pine (Pinus rigida) [4].

Common overstory associates of cherrybark oak include shagbark hickory
(Carya ovata), shellbark hickory (C. laciniosa), mockernut hickory (C.
tomentosa), bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis), and white ash (Fraxinus
americana).  Less frequent associates include sweetgum, blackgum,
shingle oak, willow oak, water oak, Delta post oak (Q. stellata var.
paludosa), Shumard oak (Q. shumardii), water hickory (Carya aquatica),
nutmeg hickory (C. myristiciformis), spruce pine (Pinus glabra),
American elm (Ulmus americana), winged elm (U. alata), American beech
(Fagus grandifolia), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), and
yellow-poplar [25].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

The typical southern red oak variety is mid-tolerant to intolerant of
shade [4].  It is common in transitional pine-hardwood and early
hardwood communities.  In the absence of fire, southern red oak replaces
pine on drier upland sites [45].  It is occasionally encountered as a
codominant in climax or near climax southern mixed hardwood communities
[45] and oak-hickory climax forests [20].

While often classified as intolerant of shade [25], cherrybark oak is
more tolerant than some associates as a seedling, and it grows only
moderately faster in high light than in low light [21].  However, it
cannot live under complete shade and is usually present only as a
dominant or codominant [25].  Cherrybark oak usually occurs as a single
tree rather than in groves.  Presumably, this is because of its
allelopathic effect on understory seedlings [49].

The swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak forest cover type succeeds the
American sycamore-sweetgum-American elm type on first bottom ridges of
terraces and may be climax on older alluvium [12].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
The typical variety flowers in April and May thoughout most of its
range.  Cherrybark oak flowers from February to May depending on
latitude.  Acorns ripen in September and October of the second season
after flowering, drop in the fall, and germinate in the spring [4,25].

Related categories for Species: Quercus falcata | Southern Red Oak