Quercus palustris aka Pin Oak

Quercus palustris, also known as the pin oak or swamp Spanish oak, is a medium-sized, deciduous tree belonging to the red oak section of the Quercus genus. It typically grows to 50-70 feet tall, with a broad pyramidal crown, and has smooth gray-brown bark that develops ridging with age. The pin oak is a popular choice for landscaping due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance. Its distinctive shape is considered unique among hardwoods, with upper branches ascending, middle branches somewhat horizontal, and lower branches descending. In the wild, the lower branches are often shaded by other trees, eventually dying and breaking off, leaving pin-like stubs, hence the name. Pin oak is native to the Midwest and mid-Atlantic States, commonly found in valleys, floodplains, and stream margins, but it is infrequently found in drier upland areas. It produces insignificant monoecious yellowish-green flowers in separate male and female catkins in the spring as the leaves emerge. The fruits are rounded acorns, with shallow, saucer-shaped acorn cups that barely cover the acorn base, and they serve as an important source of food for wildlife. The glossy, dark green leaves typically have five bristle-tipped lobes with deeply cut sinuses extending close to the midrib and turn deep red in the fall. Pin oak is perhaps the most popular commercial oak of eastern North America, widely planted as both a street and a landscape tree. While pin oak is primarily a tree of lowlands and bottomlands, it can also be grown as a houseplant with regular watering and direct light. It prefers well-draining soil and does not require added fertilizers if repotted each time it doubles in size. Pin oak is native to South Ontario to the North Central and Eastern United States and is a great addition to any landscape or indoor plant collection.