Tree of the Week: Nuttall Oak (Quercus texana)

Our Nuttall oak (Quercus texana syn. Q. nuttallii) has a recorded history of high acorn production. You can read about it on an old blog post, found here. This year, acorn watch 2022, we see, especially by comparison, an exceptionally high number of Nuttall oak acorns. This specimen is especially valuable as germplasm because it is a local genotype.

 

This Nuttall oak grows in a low spot, at the bottom of a gradual slope, near the campus Fitness Center. At four feet off the ground, the thick trunk has a circumference of sixty-two inches. As we can see, all of the lower branches have been removed.

 

 

This tree grows at the conjunction of two sidewalks. Because of its proximity to foot traffic, this Nuttall oak has endured much pruning over the years. The large circle in the center of the trunk is where a large limb was removed.

 

Large, circular scars can be found further up the trunk as well.

 

 

We see smaller circles, too.

 

 

Note the prominent surface roots, reminiscent of live oaks. Keep this one away from important sub-surface infrastructure.

 

 

Note the serpentine curling.

 

These are quite handsome. Don't you think a bonsai enthusiast would enjoy it?

 

 

 

Although mostly obscured by the thick foliage, numerous clusters of developing acorns can be found if you go looking for them. These acorns were photographed without the aid of a ladder―although the lower branches have been removed from the trunk, the upper branches droop down.

 

More cap than corn at this stage.

 

Here we can appreciate the two different sizes of acorns. There are two different sizes because they take nearly two years to develop. The larger acorns will ripen this fall/winter, while the smaller ones will ripen in 2023

 

 

Thankfully for the purposes of our acorn project, two twigs needed to be trimmed from the drooping branches. They incidentally had several acorns attached to them.

 

 

Here we see mostly the larger but still immature acorns. One smaller acorn, on the middle of the bottom row, will ripen in 2023 if it hangs on until then.