White oaks (
Quercus alba) do very well in the arboretum, particularly towards the bottom of our clay slopes. This is a species that grows naturally on the Centenary campus. Of the nine individuals in the collection, only one tree was brought in from another location. The tree pictured below is a campus seedling: it started growing somewhere on the grounds of the arboretum and was moved to its present location, next to the gravel path that runs between the Fitness Center and the Student Union Building.
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| The leaves of the white oak turn red in the fall. From a distance, the leaves look burgundy. |
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| Up close, we see that the leaves aren't uniformly colored. Many are in the process of turning |
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| Here we have a waxy green leaf with only a little red on the edges. White oak leaves are lobed with smooth edges |
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| The underside of the waxy leaf is paler green and smooth (not fuzzy). The red leaf shows that leaf-size varies on the same tree, with about an inch and a half between the two leaves. |
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| Looking up, we see that this white oak has a straight trunk. We can also see the characteristic white, shaggy bark, as it appears on both trunk and limbs. |
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| Zooming in on the trunk, the rough, shaggy white bark is very distinctive. |
You can find more pictures of the arboretum's white oaks
here.
Consult the following sources for more information about this species:
United States Department of Agriculture
Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours
Stephen F. Austin State University
