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| ## swamp chestnut oak {#swamp-chestnut-oak .Title-Header}             |
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| *Quercus michauxii* Nutt.                                             |
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| Plant Symbol = QUMI                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

![Color image of Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus
michauxii)](media/image2.jpeg){width="3.0in" height="2.0in"}

**Alternate Names**

basket oak, cow oak

##### Uses {#uses .Header-3}

*Wildlife*: Swamp chestnut oak acorns are eaten by white-tailed deer,
wild hogs, wild turkey, black bear, squirrels, and chipmunks. The acorns
are also eaten by cows.

*Timber*: The wood is used in many kinds of construction; for
agricultural implements, wheels, veneer, boards, fence posts, tight
cooperage, baskets and fuel.

##### Status {#status .Header-3}

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

##### Description {#description .Header-3}

*Quecus michauxii* Nutt., swamp chestnut oak, grows along the Atlantic
Coastal Plain from New Jersey south to north Florida, and west to east
Texas; its range extends up the Mississippi River Valley to Illinois and
Ohio.

It is a medium-size to large tree that grows up to over 100 feet tall,
with a trunk to over 6 feet in diameter, and a thick, scaly, loose,
light-gray bark. The leaves are deciduous, somewhat oval, and 4 to 9
inches long; they are short-pointed at the tip, tapering to rounded at
the base, with numerous shallow lobes or rounded teeth along the edges,
dark green, smooth above and softly hairy beneath. Leafstalks are 1 inch
long. The acorns are large and usually produced singly or in clusters of
2 or 3. There are 85 acorns per pound.

##### Adaptation and Distribution {#adaptation-and-distribution .Header-3}

Although the species is widely distributed on the best well-drained
loamy first-bottom ridges, it is principally found on well-drained silty
clay, loamy terraces, and colluvial (rocky deposit) sites in the
bottomlands of large and small streams.

For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page
for this species on the PLANTS Website.

##### Establishment {#establishment .Header-3}

Although it is not a prolific sprouter, swamp chestnut oak can
vegetatively reproduce by sprouts from roots and stumps. Regeneration
from seed is greatly hindered by animal activity. Seed germination takes
place soon following seedfall, with literally no period of dormancy. A
moist, well-drained loam, covered with a light litter layer, provides an
excellent seedbed. It is site sensitivity with growth greatly influenced
by soil type and drainage. Acorns may be drilled in rows 8 to 10 inches
apart or broadcast and covered with ¼ inch of firmed soil.

In a nursery setting, seedbed densities of 10 to 35 acorns per square
foot are recommended. Fall-sown beds should be mulched to protect seeds
and seedlings. Partial shade is beneficial for germination. Seedlings
are transplanted after the first year.

##### Management {#management .Header-3}

Swamp chestnut oak is shade intolerant and requires openings for
establishment. It normally receives heavy competition from vines,
annuals, and brush that are common to most bottomland hardwood sites.
When mature, they retard the growth of understory vegetation because
they are allelopathic, that is, they exude plant growth inhibitors.

##### Pests and Potential Problems {#pests-and-potential-problems .Header-3}

Swamp chestnut oak is affected by wood decaying fungi species of
*Fomes*, *Polyporus*, and *Stereum*, and sporadically by oak leaf
blister (*Taphrina caerulescens*). Acorns are attacked by weevils;
insect defoliators like June beetles, orange striped oakworm, fall
cankerworm, spring cankerworm, forest tent caterpillar, yellownecked
caterpillar, oakleaf caterpillar, and the redhumped oakworm. Borers that
attack the species include red oak borer, carpenter worms, Columbian
timber beetle, two-lined chestnut borer, tilehorned prionus, oak
timberworm. Other pests are golden oak scale, gouty oak gall, horned oak
gall, and basswood leafminer.

##### Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin) {#cultivars-improved-and-selected-materials-and-area-of-origin .Header-3}

Seeds and seedlings are commercially available from forest seed
companies.

##### Prepared By & Species Coordinator:  {#prepared-by-species-coordinator .Header-3}

*Lincoln Moore*, USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA

##### 

##### Edited: 05Feb2002 JLK; 060816 jsp {#edited-05feb2002-jlk-060816-jsp .Header-4}

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
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large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
TDD).*

*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
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*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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