FNPS Plant Database

Quercus falcata

Spanish oak, southern red oak
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Spanish oak, southern red oak

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Quercus falcata

Family:

Fagaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

tree

Size:

60-80 ft tall by 60-70 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

NA

Fruit Color:

brown

Phenology:

deciduous

Noted For:

Fall Color

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Shade tree.

Considerations:

Availability:

Native Nurseries, Seed

Propagation:

Seed.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

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

Coming Soon!

Usually moist, occasional inundation ---to--- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

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



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals

Host plant for the banded hairstread, Edward's hairstreak, Grey Hairstreak, white-mouth hairstreak, white-M hairstreak ( Parrhasius m-album ) Horace's Duskywing, and Juvenal's duskywing butterflies.

The acorns are eaten by woodpeckers, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, American crows and wild turkey





Attracts small mammals including squirrels, white-tailed deer and black bear.

Native Habitats:

Pine-oak-hickory woods, dry bluffs, sinks, secondary woods.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Like most oaks, the leaves are highly variable with leaves in the upper parts of the tree generally being more finely divided.

Citations:

Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H.; [Technical coordinators] 1990. Silvics of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook 654 ( https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/1548 ). 



BONAP maps.  Accessed 2022.   http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Quercus falcata.png.



Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



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



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



University of Tennessee Extension Service.  Desired Ph Range and salt tolerance of common nursery plants.    https://extension.tennessee.edu/mtnpi/Documents/handouts/Fertility/Desired-pH-Range-List.pdf   accessed 2021.



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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