![20220911 Ruth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/20220911_Ruth.jpg)
''Quercus muehlenbergii'', the chinquapin (or chinkapin) oak, is a
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
species of tree in the
white oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...
group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''). The species was often called ''Quercus acuminata'' in older literature. ''Quercus muehlenbergii'' (often misspelled as ''muhlenbergii'') is native to eastern and central
North America. It ranges from
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
to
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, south to the
Florida panhandle, and west to
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, and in Mexico it ranges from
Coahuila south to
Hidalgo
Hidalgo may refer to:
People
* Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility
* Hidalgo (surname)
Places
Mexico
* Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico
* Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila
* Hidalgo, Nuevo Leà ...
.
Description
Chinquapin oak is
monoecious in flowering habit; flowers emerge in April to late May or early June. The staminate flowers are borne in catkins that develop from the leaf axils of the previous year, and the pistillate flowers develop from the axils of the current year's
leaves. The fruit, an
acorn or nut, is borne singly or in pairs, matures in one year, and ripens in September or October. About half of the acorn is enclosed in a thin cup and is chestnut brown to nearly black.
Chinquapin oak is closely related to the smaller but generally similar
dwarf chinquapin oak (''Quercus prinoides''). Chinquapin oak is usually a tree, but occasionally shrubby, while dwarf chinquapin oak is a low-growing,
clone-forming shrub. The two species generally occur in different habitats: chinquapin oak is typically found on
calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...
soils and rocky slopes, while dwarf chinquapin oak is usually found on
acidic substrates, primarily sand or sandy soils, and also dry shales.
Chinquapin oak is also sometimes confused with the related
chestnut oak
''Quercus montana'', the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest ...
(''Quercus montana''), which it closely resembles. However, unlike the pointed teeth on the leaves of the chinquapin oak, chestnut oak leaves generally have rounded teeth. The two species have contrasting kinds of bark: chinquapin oak has a gray, flaky bark very similar to that of
white oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...
(''Q. alba'') but with a more yellow-brown cast to it (hence the occasional name yellow oak for this species), while chestnut oak has dark, solid, deeply ridged bark. The chinquapin oak also has smaller acorns than the chestnut oak or another similar species, the
swamp chestnut oak (''Q. michauxii''), which have some of the largest acorns of any oaks.
Key characteristics of ''Quercus muehlenbergii'' include:
*Leaf base is typically rounded
*Veins and sinuses are regular
*Acorns with no stalks or with short stalks less than 8 mm long. The acorns turn chestnut brown in the fall
*The leaves have sharp teeth but no bristles, as a member of the white oak subgenus of ''Quercus''
Taxonomy
![MuhlenbergGotthilf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/MuhlenbergGotthilf.jpg)
''Q. muehlenbergii'' is generally regarded as a distinct species from the similar-appearing
chestnut oak
''Quercus montana'', the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest ...
(''Q. montana''). The tree's scientific name honors
Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg
Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (17 November 1753 – 23 May 1815) was an American clergyman and botanist.
Biography
The son of Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, he was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Franckesche Stiftungen in ...
(1753–1815), a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
pastor and amateur botanist in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. In publishing the name ''Quercus mühlenbergii'',
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-
American botanist George Engelmann mistakenly used an
umlaut in spelling Muhlenberg's name, even though Pennsylvania-born Muhlenberg himself did not use an umlaut in his name. Under the modern
rules of botanical nomenclature, umlauts are transliterated, with ''ü'' becoming ''ue'', hence Engelmann's ''Quercus mühlenbergii'' is now presented as ''Quercus muehlenbergii''. In lack of evidence that Engelmann's use of the umlaut was an unintended error, and hence correctable, the ''muehlenbergii'' spelling is considered correct, although the more appropriate
orthographic variant ''Quercus muhlenbergii'' is often seen.
The low-growing,
cloning
Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...
''
Q. prinoides'' (dwarf chinquapin oak) is similar to ''Q. muehlenbergii'' and has been confused with it in the past, but is now generally accepted as a distinct species.
If the two are considered to be
conspecific
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...
, the earlier-published name ''Quercus prinoides'' has priority over ''Q. muehlenbergii'', and the larger chinquapin oak can then be classified as ''Quercus prinoides ''var.'' acuminata'', with the dwarf chinquapin oak being ''Quercus prinoides ''var.'' prinoides''. ''Q. prinoides'' was named and described by the German botanist
Karl (Carl) Ludwig Willdenow in 1801, in a German journal article by Muhlenberg.
Ecology
Soil and topography
Chinquapin oak is generally found on well-drained upland soils derived from limestone or where limestone outcrops occur. Occasionally it is found on well-drained limestone soils along streams. Chinquapin oak is generally found on soils that are weakly acid (
pH about 6.5) to alkaline (above pH 7.0). It grows on both northerly and southerly aspects but is more common on the warmer southerly aspects. It is absent or rare at high elevations in the Appalachians.
Associated cover
It is rarely a predominant tree, but it grows in association with many other species. It is a component of the forest cover type White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak (Society of American Foresters Type 52) and the Post Oak-Blackjack Oak (Type 40) (2).
It grows in association with white oak ''(Quercus alba),'' black oak (''
Q. velutina''), northern red oak (''
Q. rubra''), scarlet oak (''
Q. coccinea''), sugar maple (''
Acer saccharum''), red maple (''
A. rubrum''), hickories (''
Carya
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...
'' spp.), black cherry (''
Prunus serotina
''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...
''), cucumbertree (''
Magnolia acuminata
''Magnolia acuminata'', commonly called the cucumber tree (often spelled as a single word "cucumbertree"), cucumber magnolia or blue magnolia, is one of the largest magnolias, and one of the cold-hardiest. It is a large forest tree of the Easte ...
''), white ash (''
Fraxinus americana
''Fraxinus americana'', the white ash or American ash, is a species of ''ash tree'' native to eastern and central North America.
The species is native to mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, ...
''), American basswood (''
Tilia americana''), black walnut (''
Juglans nigra
''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south ...
''), butternut (''
J. cinerea''), and yellow-poplar (''
Liriodendron tulipifera''). American beech (''
Fagus grandifolia
''Fagus grandifolia'', the American beech or North American beech, is a species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast of Canada.
Description
''Fagus grandifolia'' is a large deciduous tree growing to tall, w ...
''), shortleaf pine (''
Pinus echinata
''Pinus echinata'', the shortleaf pine, is a species of pine native to the southeastern United States.
Description
The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. The tree reaches heights of with a ...
''), pitch pine (''
P. rigida''), Virginia pine (''
P. virginiana''), Ozark chinquapin (''
Castanea ozarkensis''), eastern redcedar (''
Juniperus virginiana
''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a ...
''), bluejack oak (''
Quercus incana
''Quercus incana'' is a species of oak known by the common names bluejack oak, upland willow oak, sandjack oak, and cinnamon oak. It is native to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States, from Virginia around Florida to Texas and ...
''), southern red oak (''
Q. falcata''), blackgum (''
Nyssa sylvatica
''Nyssa sylvatica'', commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, black gum or sour gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and e ...
''), and winged elm (''
Ulmus alata'') also grow in association with chinquapin oak. In the Missouri Ozarks a redcedar-chinquapin oak association has been described.
The most common small tree and shrub species found in association with chinquapin oak include flowering dogwood ''(Cornus ),'' sassafras (''
Sassafras albidum
''Sassafras albidum'' (sassafras, white sassafras, red sassafras, or silky sassafras) is a species of ''Sassafras'' native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern T ...
''), sourwood (''
Oxydendrum arboreum
''Oxydendrum arboreum'', the sourwood or sorrel tree, is the sole species in the genus ''Oxydendrum'', in the family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Pennsylvania south to northwest Florida and west to southern I ...
''), eastern hophornbeam (''
Ostrya virginiana
''Ostrya virginiana'', the American hophornbeam, is a species of '' Ostrya'' native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Population ...
''), ''
Vaccinium
''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...
'' spp., ''
Viburnum
''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae.
The membe ...
'' spp., hawthorns ''(
Crataegus'' spp.), and sumacs (''
Rhus'' spp.). The most common woody vines are wild grape (''
Vitis
''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...
'' spp.) and greenbrier ''(
Smilax
''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...
'' spp.).
Reaction to competition
Chinquapin oak is classified as
intolerant of shade. It withstands moderate shading when young but becomes more intolerant of shade with age. It is regarded as a
climax species
Climax species, also called late seral, late-successional, K-selected or equilibrium species, are plant species that can germinate and grow with limited resources; e.g., they need heat exposure or low water availability. They are the species wi ...
on dry, drought prone soils, especially those of limestone origin. On more moist sites it is subclimax to climax. It is often found as a component of the climax vegetation in stands on mesic sites with limestone soils. However, many oak-hickory stands on moist sites that contain chinquapin oak are succeeded by a climax forest including beech, maple, and ash.
Diseases and pests
Severe wildfire kills chinquapin oak saplings and small pole-size trees, but these often resprout. However, fire scars serve as entry points for decay-causing
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, and the resulting decay can cause serious losses.
Oak wilt
Oak wilt is a fungal disease caused by the organism ''Bretziella fagacearum'' that threatens ''Quercus'' spp. The disease is limited to the Midwestern and Eastern United States; first described in the 1940s in the Upper Mississippi River Val ...
(''Bretziella fagacearum''), a vascular disease, attacks chinquapin oak and usually kills the tree within two to four years. Other diseases that attack chinquapin oak include the cankers ''Strumella coryneoidea'' and ''Nectria galligena'', shoestring root rot (''Armillarea mellea''), anthracnose (''Gnomonia veneta''), and leaf blister (''Taphrina'' spp.).
The most serious defoliating
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s that attack chinquapin oak are the
gypsy moth
''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''L. d. dispar'' and ''L. d. japonica'' bei ...
(''Lymantria dispar''), the
orangestriped oakworm (''Anisota senatoria''), and the variable oakleaf caterpillar (''Heterocampa manteo''). Insects that bore into the bole and seriously degrade the products cut from infested trees include the carpenterworm (''Prionoyxstus robiniae''), little carpenterworm (''P. macmurtrei''), white oak borer (''Goes tigrinus''), Columbian timber beetle (''Corthylus columbianus''), oak timberworm (''Arrhenodes minutus''), and twolined chestnut borer (''Agrilus bilineatus''). The acorn weevils (''Curculio'' spp.), larvae of moths (''Valentinia glandulella'' and ''Melissopus latiferreanus''), and gall forming cynipids (''Callirhytis'' spp.) feed on the acorns.
Uses
![Chinkapin oak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Chinkapin_oak.jpg)
Like that of other white oak species, the wood of the chinquapin oak (''Q. muehlenbergii'') is a durable hardwood prized for many types of construction.
The chinquapin oak is especially known for its sweet and palatable acorns. Indeed, the nuts contained inside of the thin shell are among the sweetest of any oak, with an excellent taste even when eaten raw, providing an excellent source of food for both wildlife and people. The acorns are eaten by squirrels, mice, voles, chipmunks, deer, turkey, and other birds.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2611816
muehlenbergii
Trees of North America
Plants described in 1877
Taxa named by George Engelmann
Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental
Oaks of Mexico