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United States

Department of

Agriculture

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U4S . Forest Service .I,6 Southern Forest

Research Note

Experlment Station

so-321

December 1985

Shumard Oaks Successfully Planted on High pH Soils

Harvey E. Kennedy, Jr., and Roger M. Krinard

SUMMARY

Shumard oak was successfully planted on high pH

(7.8-8.0) Mississippi River alluvium soils where some

other planted red oaks had failed. Survival and growth

have been good through ages 10, 11, and 25 years in

three separate plantings. Shumard oak on high pH soils,

in addition to producing timber, would allow a consistent

mast-producing tree on sites normally void of oaks.

Addltional keywords: Quercus shumardii, alluvial

soils, riverfront, artificial regeneration.

areas had been cleared of a natural, mixed hardwood

stand and prepared for planting by shearing, root raking,

and disking. Oaks had not been present in the original

forest. Nursery-grown, 1-O bareroot seedlings were

handplanted at lo- by 1 O-foot spacings on 1 /l O-1 /2 acre

plots. Plantings were clean cultivated during the first

growing season, but no intensive weed control was applied afterwards. Sunrival, diameters, and heights were

periodically measured.

INTRODUCTION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Oaks have long been the mainstay of the southern

hardwoods lumber industry and their acorns a primary

source of food for wildlife. However, many Mississippi

riverfront soils are devoid of oak forests. This may result

from lack of seed source or from adverse site conditions

related to the high pH of these soils. On soils with pH’s

ranging from 7.5 to 8.0, some red oaks, particularly Nuttall (Quercus nuttallii Palmer), cherrybark (Q. falcata var.

pagodifolia Eli.), and water (Q. nigra L.) oaks, do not

survive and grow well (Kennedy 1984), but they have

been successfully planted on soils with pH’s ranging

from 5.0 to 8.5 (Broadfoot 1978, Francis 1983). This

paper summarizes three small, successful plantings of

Shumard (Q. shumardii Buckl.) oak on high pH (7.8-8.0)

soils along the Mississippi River.

Survival at Huntington Point was 80 percent after the

11 th growing season in one planting and 73 percent after

10 growing seasons in the other. Early survival data for

the planting at Archer Island are not available, but survival averaged 86 percent after the 12th and 25th growing seasons. Most mortality at Huntington Point occurred

during the first two or three growing seasons, with only

an occasional tree dying later (table 1). Soil pH at the

three locations is 7.8-8.0.

METHODS

Shumard oak was planted in 1959 at Archer Island,

Washington County, Mississippi, on Robinsonville sandy

loam and at Huntington Point, Bolivar County, Mississippi, in 1974 and 1975 on Commerce silt loams.‘The

Diameters and heights are shown in table 1. Diameter

growth averaged about 0.5 inch per year at all three

plantings, while height growth averaged 3.0-4.0 feet per

year (fig. 1). Growth, especially at Huntington Point,

started the first year of planting and has remained fairly

consistent. Experience with some oak plantings, primarily Nuttall, water, cherrybark, and swamp chestnut oaks,

has shown slow seedling growth during the first 2-4

years after planting, as little as 0.5-1.0 foot. Later the

seedlings may average up to 3 feet of height growth

each year for a number of years.

In another study (Kennedy 1984), Nuttall, water, and

cherrybark oaks were planted at Huntington Point. The

study area is within 200 feet of one of the Shumard oak

Southern Forest Experiment Station/l-10210 U.S. Postal Services Bldg., 701 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, La. 70113

Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Serving Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, E. Oklahoma, Tennessee, E. Texas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

1
Table I

.-sufvival and growth of Shumafd oak seedlings at three planting Sit&?

Age (years)

Location 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 5

Archer Island

Survival (%)

Diameter (in)

Height (tt)

Huntington Point I

Survival (%)

Diameter (in)

Height (ft)

Huntington Point 2

Survival (%)

Diameter (in)

Height (tt)

-1 __

-- __

-- __

87 82 8 2

-_ __ _ _

2.2 5.4 8.6

89 80 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 6

-w __ 0.5 0.9 1.4 1.8

1.8 4.4 7.7 12.4 15.7 17.9

-_

__

“_

8 1 8 0 8 0 8 0

1.3 2.0 2.9 3.5

13.4 17.6 22.5 25.8

l- --- = Measurements not made or not available.

plantings and about one-fourth mile from the other. In the

first and each successive year, oak leaves would begin

to yellow in these three species within 3 to 4 weeks after

the growing season began. Yellowing increased as the

growing season progressed, and by late summer leaves

were brittle with a brown, burnt appearance around the

edges. After four growing seasons, trees had grown very

little and survival ranged from only 10 to 40 percent.

Those oak failures were probably due to high soil pH of

8.0 which made the iron unavailable for tree uptake. The

yellowing of leaves did not occur in the Shumard oak

plantings. Leaves remained dark green with lush growth

throughout the growing season, an indication that Shumard oak can extract the iron needed for good growth

and survival even at a high soil pH.

These plantings, and others reported in the literature

(Francis 1983, Johnson 1984), demonstrate Shumard

oak’s adaptability to a wide range of sites. The species

also tolerates flooding during the dormant and early

growing season after the initial growing season. Flooding the first year after outplanting, particularly if

seedlings are completely submerged, could cause mortality. The Mississippi River has flooded the sites at

Archer Island and Huntington Point four or five times

during the life of the plantings. Flood depths ranged from

a few inches to several feet and extended into June on

some occasions. Flooding occurred from as early as the

second year in plantings to as late as the 25th year. High

water at the start of the 3rd growing season at Archer

Island killed an adjacent cherrybark oak planting of the

same age.

An advantage of Shumard oak on high pH sites, in

addition to timber production, would be its role as a good

mast-producing tree on sites normally void of oaks

(Broadfoot 1976). Olson (1974) reported seed-bearing

age of Shumard to be 25 years. Good seed crops occur

_o-- --- 8 6 8 6

_.__ --- 6.4 12.0

_-_- --- 5 0 7 8

3.9 __- -- ---

35.1 ___ -- ---

every 2-3 years. However, some seeds were collected

from the Archer Island planting at about age 15-16

years.

Figure l.-Planted Shumatd oak midway through its 12th gnnving

season on Mississ@pi River alluvium.

Harvey E. Kennedy, Jr., is Principal Silviculturtst and Roger M. Krinard is Mensurationist at the Southern Hardwoods LabOratOrY, maintained et

StOneville, Mississippi, by the Southern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service-USDA, in cooperation with the Mississippi Agricultural and

FOraW +efiment Station and the Southern Hardwood Forest Research Group.

2
“LITERATURE CITED

Broadfoot, Walter M. Hardwood suitability for and properties of important Midsouth soils. Research Paper

SO-127. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment

Station; 1976. 84 p.

Francis, John K. Cherrybark and Shumard oaks successfully planted on eroded ridges. Tree Planters’

Notes. 34(2): 28-30; 1983.

Johnson, R. L. Direct-seeded cherrybark and Shumard

oaks battle natural regeneration through 10 years.

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. 8(4): 226-231;

1984.

Kennedy, Harvey E., Jr. Hardwood growth and foliar

nutrient concentrations best in clean cultivation treatments. Forest Ecology and Management. 8: 117-l 26;

1984.

Olson, David F., Jr. Quercus L. Oak. In: Seeds of woody

plants in the United States. Agriculture Handbook 450.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service; 1974: 692-703.

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