General Landscape Uses:
Shade tree for large spaces.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in northeast Florida.
Description: Large deciduous tree 100 feet tall with deeply lobed leaves 2-8 inches long, turning wine red in the fall and brown in the winter. Bark is whitish and scaly.
Dimensions: Typically 100 feet in height, taller than broad. Up to 150 feet in height in the Florida Panhandle.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Eastern half of the United States from Maine to Minnesota south to eastern Texas and the Florida panhandle from Escambia to Levy and Suwanee counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Moist hammocks and bluffs.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements: Light shade to full sun.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Early spring.
Fruit: Acorn 1 inch long.
References: Mellichamp (
2014), Huegel 2010
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
