overcup oak
Quercus lyrata
Its acorns are unique among oaks for being almost entirely covered by the cap, allowing them to float like tiny boats during floods to reach new soil.
- Scientific name
- Quercus lyrata
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Fagales › Fagaceae › Quercus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Bottomland floodplains, river swamps, and poorly drained alluvial soils.
- Diet
- Photosynthesis (sunlight, water, and soil minerals).
- Range
- Southeastern United States, Mississippi River Valley, Gulf Coastal Plain
- Size
- 60 to 90 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet.
- Lifespan
- 300 to 400 years.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland drainage, land development, and invasive insects like the gypsy moth.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. This tree provides excellent shade and stability in wet terrain. Do not peel its bark or disturb the root system. Safe to observe from any distance.
Quercus lyrata ( overcup oak ) is an oak in the white oak group ( Quercus sect. Quercus ). It is native to lowland wetlands in the eastern and south-central United States, in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. There are historical reports of it growing in Iowa, but the species appears to have been extirpated there.
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