Quercus nigra

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Nuts

The seed must be cooked and was a staple food for some native North American Indian tribes. It measures about 15cm long and wide, and can be dried and ground into a powder for use as a thickening agent in stews or mixed with cereals to make bread. The seed contains bitter tannins that can be removed by washing thoroughly in running water, though this also leaches out minerals. Both whole seeds and ground powder can be treated — whole seeds may take several days or weeks, and a traditional method was to place them wrapped in a cloth bag in a running stream. Ground powder leaches more quickly. A taste test confirms when enough tannin has been removed. The traditional preparation involved burying seeds in boggy ground over winter; the germinating seeds dug up in spring would have lost most of their astringency. The roasted seed also serves as a coffee substitute.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows in moist or wet soils includign flood plains. In SE regions of the USA it grows up to about 300 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 6-10.

Australia, North America, USA,

How to Identify

A medium sized tree. It grows 15 m high and spreads 12 m across. It loses its leaves during the year. It has a broad-domed crown. The bark is dark grey and develops scaly ridges. The leaves are on slender stalks. The leaves are egg shaped but have lobes. They are glossy and deep green. The fruit are acorns enclosed in shallow cups.

How to Grow

Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side. Lime tolerant. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted. Prefers warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, trees often grow poorly in this country and fail to properly ripen their wood resulting in frost damage overwinter. A fast-growing tree in its native habitat, it does not bear seeds until about 20 years old. Seed production is cyclic, a year of high yields being followed by a year of low yields. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed taking two summers to ripen. Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young. Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation: Seed loses viability quickly if allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool over winter, but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed with protection from mice and squirrels. Small quantities can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Because plants develop a deep taproot, they should be moved to their permanent positions as soon as possible — seeds sown in situ produce the best trees. Do not leave trees in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons, as they will transplant very poorly.

Medicinal Uses

Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, and dysentery.

Other Uses

A mulch of leaves placed around plants repels slugs, grubs, and similar pests. Fresh leaves should not be used as they can inhibit plant growth. Oak galls, formed by insect larvae feeding within them, are a rich source of tannin once the insect has left, and can also be used as a dyestuff. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained, weighing 45lb per cubic foot. It is used for cross-ties and poles, but is little valued aside from as a fuel.

Quercus nigra, the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group (Quercus sect. Lobatae), native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Kentucky, and southern Missouri. It occurs in lowlands and up to 450 meters (1,480 feet) in elevation. Other names include spotted oak, duck oak, punk oak, orange oak, and possum oak.

Production

It is short lived.

Notes

There are about 600 Quercus species.

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