Garden Plant: Chinkapin Oak Tree
Chinkapin Oak Tree
Product Description: Chinkapin Oak Tree
Easy to Grow Tree with Sweet, Edible Acorns!
The Chinkapin Oak tree, Quercus muehlenbergii, is the limestone equivalent of the chestnut oak, occurring as a dominant species on rocky alkaline uplands. This is not a fussy tree and it will adapt too many soil types!
This oak is also known as bray oak, chestnut oak, rock chestnut oak, yellow oak and rock oak.
This oak tree is also sometimes commonly called yellow chestnut oak. Chinkapin oak is a medium sized deciduous oak of the white oak group with an open globular crown.
The fruits are small oval acorns with scaly cups that extend to approximately 1/2 the acorn length. Acorns are valued food for a variety of wildlife.
Chinkapin oak trees have narrow, shiny green leaves that have coarse marginal teeth. Leaves somewhat resemble the leaves of chestnut (Castanea) whose nut is sometimes called a chinquapin, hence the common name of this oak.
Its acorn is sweet and edible. The thin leaves provide light shade. Fall color is variable, but it usually displays shades of yellow and brown.
Chinkapin is not used extensively as an ornamental tree, although it is quite tolerant of tougher sites. It grows best on medium acid to moderately alkaline (4. 5 to 7. 2 pH), well drained-soils.
- Heat tolerant
- Drought tolerant
- Widely adaptable
- Acorns for Wildlife