VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Quercus palustris | Pin Oak 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Pin oak does not self-prune, so the wood has many small knots which
reduce its quality and utility.  The hard, heavy wood is used locally
for construction timbers, mine props, and fuel [19,23].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Pin oak acorns are an important food for wildlife including white-tailed
deer, squirrels, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, bluejays, and waterfowl.
Acorns are an especially important food source for wood ducks and
mallards during fall migration [19].  Bottomland hardwoods that are
seasonally flooded provide nesting sites for colonial waterbirds and
many passerines [15].  Pin oak is an important species in greentree
reservoirs (artificially flooded areas) that attract and provide food
for migrating waterfowl [19,25].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Pin oak acorns contain on average 15.4 percent crude fat, 45.4 percent
total carbohydrates, 3.8 percent total protein, 0.08 percent phosphorus,
0.04 percent calcium, and 0.06 percent magnesium [4].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Pin oak is recommended for graded/top-soiled mine spoils.  In southern
Illinois, pin oak seedlings (both planted and direct seeded) had among
the best survival and growth of nine oak species tested on graded cast
overburden covered with about 16 inches (40 cm) of eroded old field
surface soil [2].  Pin oak has naturally established on surface-mined
lands in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma [28].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Pin oak is widely planted as a shade tree and ornamental.  It
transplants well and tolerates urban stresses such as street salt, acid
rain, and smoke [7,1,19,26].  Black ink can be made from twig galls on
pin oak [11].



MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Many bottomland hardwood forests were cleared for agriculture during the
settlement period.  Currently, some of this land is being reforested to
provide wildlife habitat [1,3,21].  Pin oak is highly suited for direct
seeding.  Information on seed collection, storage, sowing, site
preparation, and timing for bottomland hardwood reforestation is
detailed [1].  Pin oak acorns can be held in cold storage (35 to 40
degrees Fahrenheit [2-5 deg C]) with 90 percent viability for 2 years,
possible longer [21].

To provide habitat and food for wintering waterfowl, bottomland forests
composed of pin oak and other flood-tolerant, mast-producng species are
often impounded during the winter.  The shallow water is drawn down in
the early spring to prevent tree damage.  Twenty years of dormant-season
flooding did not damage pin oak, although stand basal area growth was
reduced 10 percent.  After 25 years, however, some pin oaks had
developed bole swelling at or just above the flood water level.  The
swelling caused fissures which provided entry for fungi [19].  Mature
pin oak survived only 3 years on permanently flooded land when water
levels were artificially raised by dams on the upper Mississippi River.
Pin oaks 2 feet (0.6 m) above the new pool level showed increased growth
rates during the 5 years after the rise in water level [10].

Pin oak can be harvested by clearcutting at 40-year intervals.  Pin oak
grows rapidly on alluvial soils.  One stand in Illinois averaged 62 feet
(18.9 m) in height and 12 inches (30.5 cm) in d.b.h. after only 35 years
[25].

Pin oak is susceptible to several oak diseases, including oak wilt
(Ceratocytis fagacearum), oak leaf blister (Taphrina caerulescens), pin
oak blight (Endothia gyrosa), and Dothiorella canker (Dothiorella
quercina).  It is also susceptible to many insects, including
defoliators, wood borers, gall wasps, and weevils.  Some of the more
important pests include gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar), obscure scale
(Melanaspis obscura), oak leaftier (Croesia semipurpurana), pin oak
sawfly (Caliroa lineata), scarlet oak sawfly (C. quercuscoccineae),
forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria), leaf roller (Argyrotaenia
quercifoliana), horned oak gall wasp (Callirhytis cornigera), and gouty
oak gall wasp (C. quercuspunctata) [19].

Pin oak leaves appear able to tolerate acid rain.  Less than 1 percent
of the total leaf area was injured when trees were exposed to simulated
acid rain of pH 2.5 for 20 minutes each day for 10 days [7].

Leafed-out 2-year-old pin oak seedlings were exposed to salt solutions
for 5 weeks to mimic the impact of deicing salts.  The seedlings had a
fairly high degree of foliar injury and high stem sodium and chloride
levels, but height growth and dry matter production were not affected by
the treatment [26].  

Ornamental pin oaks planted on alkaline soils develop foliar chlorosis
because of nutrient deficiencies [19].

Related categories for Species: Quercus palustris | Pin Oak