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Myrtle oak

Quercus myrtifolia

Myrtle oak
Photo: Homer Edward Price, CC BY 2.0
Family
Fagaceae (Beech & oak family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Drought tolerant
Native range
SE. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Quercus myrtifolia, the myrtle oak, is a North American species of oak. It is native to the southeastern United States (Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina). It is often found in coastal areas on sandy soils.

It is an evergreen tree that can reach 12 meters (39 feet) tall, also appearing as a shrub in drier sites. It has leaves with no teeth or lobes, which are hairless on the upperside and also on the underside except along the veins.

How to grow it

The Myrtle Oak can be used as an accent plant in garden settings. Despite this it is rarely available in nurseries. If growing a Myrtle Oak one should plant in full sun and well drained soil. It is very drought resistant. If it is planted outside it should be protected from pests, and buried at a depth equal to the diameter of the acorn.

Where it grows

Quercus myrtifolia is present in the southeastern United States. It occurs in sandy soils along coastlines up to 350 feet (110 m) above sea level. Habitats are dry sandy ridges in scrub oak forests with yellow pines, and dry-site hardwood forests. The most common trees it grows with are Quercus incana, Quercus laevis, Quercus marilandica, Quercus margaretta, Quercus geminata, and Quercus virginiana.

Uses

This plant is mostly used in gardening as a backdrop or accent plant. It is very low maintenance and its evergreen leaves provide cover during the winter. It may also have medicinal uses. The bark may be used as an antiseptic and hemostatic. It may even be useful for treating tooth aches, gastropathies, and burns, and to reduce inflammation. These types of medicinal uses are typical of many oak trees.

Other Quercus plants

Quercus acatenangensis · Mapleleaf oak · Quercus acherdophylla · Quercus acrodonta · Quercus aculcingensis · Red Wood Evergreen Oak · Quercus acutangula · Quercus acutifolia · Sawtooth oak · Quercus aerea · African Oak · Quercus affinis

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus myrtifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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