FNPS Plant Database

Quercus chapmanii

Chapman's oak
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Chapman's oak

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Quercus chapmanii

Family:

Fagaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

3-15 ft tall.  Has multiple stems forming thickets.

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

NA

Fruit Color:

brown

Phenology:

Deciduous. Blooms in spring. Acorns mature in one season.

Noted For:

Fall Color

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

This is a small clonal oak that can be used in a thicket as a screen.

Considerations:

Availability:

Native Nurseries, FNPS Plant Sales, Seed

Propagation:

Seed or by division of underground stems.

Light:

Full Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Not wet but not extremely dry -to- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Moderate. Tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray.

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals

Larval host plant for Horace's duskywing Erynnis horatius ), Juvenal's duskywing ( Erynnis juvenalois ), red-banded hairstreak ( Calycopis cecrops ) and white-M hairstreak ( Parrhasius m-album ) butterflies; possible larval host fof oak hairstreak ( Fixsenia favonius ).

Valued by the Florida scrub-jay for its acorns which are relatively low in tanins





Used by woodpeckers and wild turkey





Valued by squirrels, racoons and other mammals including white tailed deer

Native Habitats:

Scrub, dunes, scrubby flatwoods, scrubby high pine.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Citations:

Huegel, Craig, N.  2010.  Native plant landscaping for Florida wildlife.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (wildlife uses)



Institute for Regional Conservation.  Accessed 2021.  Natives for Your Neighborhood.  https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Querchap. (laral host)



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native Plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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