Pin Oak

Quercus palustris

Dimensions:

• Height: 50’ - 70’

• Mature spread: 40’ - 60’

• Trunk Diameter: 1’ - 3’

Habitat and Range:

• most abundant in the Knobs, Western Coal Field, and Jackson Purchase areas of Kentucky

• common in swamps, valley flats, sinkholes and shallow depressions

Features:

• also known as swamp oak or water oak, “palustris” means “marsh-loving”

• has numerous small twigs, which makes it look like a pin cushion

• branching pattern is unique with the lowermost branches being angled sharply downward, the middle branches horizontal and the upper branches ascending

• one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, pollution tolerance and distinctive pyramidal shape

• its acorns are important food for wildlife, including squirrels, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, blue jays and waterfowl

History:

• Native American tribes used Pin Oak bark by boiling it and creating intestinal medicine

• Native Americans would grind the acorns to make coffee, and the acorns secrete a powder that can be used for a thickening agent in soups and stew

• hard wood of Pin Oak tree used for wooden construction and other purposes