Viability can be tested by dumping acorns into water. Those that float are not viable. Acorns cannot be stored for more than a few months. Along the Ohio shores of Lake Erie, swamp white oak grows in Toledo soil, a very poorly drained, silty clay. Along the Kankakee River on the Illinois and Indiana border, swamp white oak is a major overstory component of the floodplain forest.
All oaks can resprout from stems when top-killed by fire.
With repeated fire stems become calloused. This tissue is filled with dormant buds that resprout. Moderate fires may kill seedlings and saplings, but older trees usually survive. Fire-damaged surviving trees are susceptible to disease and insect attack. However, trees did not sprout following the burn.