Rock Oak

The Quercus Muehlenbergii is commonly known as Chestnut Oak, Chinkapin Oak, Chinquapin Oak, Rock Chestnut Oak, Rock Oak, Yellow Chestnut Oak, as well as Yellow Oak

< Go Back

Growing Regions

Chinkapin oak is widely distributed throughout much of eastern and central North America [11]. Its range extends from New England and Pennsylvania southward mostly in the mountains through Virginia and the Carolinas to northwestern Florida, westward to northern Mexico, south-central Texas, and Oklahoma, and north to Minnesota, Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and southern Michigan [23,26]. Local and disjunct populations occur in western Texas, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico [36,69]. In the eastern United States, chinkapin oak is relatively rare throughout much of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains [32]. It is uncommon or rare in Pennsylvania [32] and in New England [58]. Chinkapin oak reaches greatest abundance in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys [23,32].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of chinkapin oak is Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm. [36]. Many authorities recognize this species under an alternate spelling, Q. muhlenbergii Engelm. [31]. Chinkapin oak is a member of the white oak subgenus or section (Lepidobalanus) [9] and is placed within the chestnut oak subsection (Prinoideae Trelease) [44]. Two forms have been delineated on the basis of leaf and nut morphology [23]. A form characterized by wide leaves has been identified as Q. muehlenbergii f. alexanderi (Britton) Trel. [75]. Chinkapin oak hybridizes with many other oak species, including bur oak (Q. macrocarpa), white oak (Q. alba), Gambel oak (Q. gambelii), dwarf chinkapin oak, Q. x deamii, Q. x introgressa, and Q. bicolor x prinoides [36,40]. Hybridization with gray oak (Q. grisea) and swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) is suspected [68,69]. Q. x deamii (=Q. fallax) is probably a hybrid of chinkapin oak and white oak or chinkapin oak and bur oak [7,23]. Q. introgressa may be a natural hybrid of chinkapin oak and dwarf chinkapin oak. Introgressants and hybrid swarms between chinkapin oak and dwarf chinkapin oak are common [68].

Chinkapin oak grows as a codominant with bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) in gallery forests of the Konza
Prairie in northeastern Kansas [3].  In most other locations it occurs
as scattered individuals within a mixed overstory.

• More Rock Oak Information

< Go Back