Tree of the Week: Post Oak (Quercus stellata)

 

Over the past year we have paid special attention to the post oaks of northwest Louisiana. It all started with the passing of an on-site-native post oak, followed by a resolution to increase the number of post oaks on campus. This requires ripe acorns. When the search for those failed, a modest effort was made with the transplanting of a young post oak.  Now that spring pollination is complete, the search for acorns has begun anew. Today we spotted post oak acorns in the arboretum!

We have a post oak that is a little more than 22 years old. It grows at the western edge of the arboretum, near Rotary Hall. This tree isn't big, but it has already started to produce acorns. You can see more pictures of this specimen here.

Acorns can easily be examined on the lower limbs of the tree. No ladder is needed.

 

Two immature post oak acorns, photographed June 19, 2022

 

Developing post oak acorn, photographed June 19, 2022

Update: How will our acorns fare under the early summer drought? Time will tell.