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Quercus phellos
A fast-growing, medium-to-large deciduous oak from the southeastern and eastern United States, widely planted as a street and park shade tree. It does best in full sun with deep, occasional watering and room for its canopy.
Quercus phellos, the willow oak, also peach oak, water oak, and swamp chestnut oak, is a North American species of deciduous tree in the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the south-central and eastern United States.
The willow oak is also known for its ability to handle urban landscapes. Because of their shallow root structure, the willow oak is ideal for lawns and parks, as long as their roots have room to spread. The willow oak is fairly drought-tolerant, valued for storm resistance, withstands flooding, and is tolerant to urban pollution. Willow oaks transplant easily because of their shallow roots. They are primarily propagated through their acorns. They can be planted in their desired growing location, but if transplanted, they can be moved in late winter when dormant. When planting, the willow oak grows best in full sun and, when maturing, needs to be watered deeply; along with this, applying fertilizer in the early spring and providing ample space for the canopy will give it the best chance to thrive.
The willow oak is one of the most popular trees for horticultural planting, due to its rapid growth, hardiness, balance between axial and radial dominance, ability to withstand both sun and shade, light green leaf color, and full crown.
The species is most common in the American south and eastern states. It can be found from Long Island Sound south to northern Florida, and west to southernmost Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas. Its natural range extends into southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. It has also historically been recorded as occurring in Lancaster, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties, chiefly on wet sites, occasionally in drier, upland ones. Much of that area has been built over and developed since World War II, and the tree is now classified as endangered in the state.
Economic uses are primarily as an ornamental tree and the wood for pulp and paper production, but also for lumber.
Quercus affinis · Coast Live Oak · White Oak · Golden Oak · Scrub oak · Brant's oak · Turkey Oak · Canyon Live Oak · Scarlet Oak · Daimyo oak · Blue oak · Leather oak
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus phellos by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
