BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Quercus ellipsoidalis | Northern Pin Oak 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Northern pin oak is a small to medium-sized, native, deciduous tree,
typically reaching heights to 70 feet (21 m) [14,21].  It has an
irregularly shaped crown and low-hanging branches that persist for long
periods as dead stubs, giving a ragged appearance to the trunks [9].
Northern pin oak has a deep taproot and deep widespreading lateral roots
[4].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual:  Northern pin oak is monoecious.  Seed production begins when
the tree is about 20 years old.  Good seed crops are not produced every
year and in the off years many of the acorns are destroyed by weevils
[10,23].  Seed dissemination is by squirrels, blue jays, and gravity
[16,17].

Vegetative:  Northern pin oak sprouts from the root collar or stump if
top-killed or cut [25,32].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Northern pin oak is an upland xeric species that commonly grows on dry,
acid, sandy soils with a very thin organic layer.  It most often occurs
on sandy plains and sandstone hills, and develops into extensive pure
populations only on such sites [9,10].

Northern pin oak is the most drought tolerant of all black oaks [2].

Common tree associates not listed in Distribution and Occurrence include
eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), pignut hickory (Carya glabra),
shagbark hickory (C. ovata), and pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica).
Common shrub associates include American green alder (Alnus crispa),
lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), chokecherry (Prunus
virginiana), hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), American hazel (Corylus
americana), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), snowberry (Symphoricarpos
spp.), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), and willow (Salix spp.)
[3,10,18,29].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Faculative Seral Species.

Northern pin oak is very intolerant and does not reproduce under its own
shade [2,26].  The other oaks with which it is commonly associated are
less light demanding and thus tend to succeed it.  Successsion is toward
a white oak-black oak-northern red oak and bur oak communities.  In
central Wisconsin, eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is encroaching on
northern pin oak communities.  In parts of eastern Minnesota where pine
is absent, northern pin oak forms an edaphic climax on poor sandy soils
[10].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Flowering occurs from March to May.  Staminate flowers develop from leaf
buds of axils of the previous year, whereas the pistillate flowers
develop from buds formed during the current year.  The fruit ripens in 2
years; dispersal occurs from late August to early December [23].

Related categories for Species: Quercus ellipsoidalis | Northern Pin Oak