Overcup Oak

Overcup Oak

Quercus lyrata

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

▲ young tree

▲ ▼ leaves

▲ acorn

Location on Missouri State University campus: in retention basin area at southwest corner of National and Grand

Quercus lyrata: Overcup Oak

• leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, obovate with deepest lobes toward tip of leaf, somewhat similar to bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) or swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)
• stems stout, gray-brown, bark is similar to white oak (Quercus alba), but not as scaly
• has upright branching habit, strong leader, growing to 40-60+’ tall and 1/2 as wide
• tolerant of all but alkaline soils--will show iron chlorosis in high pH
• acorn is globe-shaped and almost completely enclosed by “cap"--looks like a little brown golf ball
• medium to fast growth rate; one of the easier-to-transplant white oaks
• native in southeastern Missouri