The swamp white oak is a large, narrow-crowned tree found throughout the northeastern United States as far west as Iowa and eastern Missouri. In Iowa it is limited to the eastern and southeastern parts, occurring on deep, rich, moist bottomlands along streamsand on low areas. The simple leaves have rounded, shallow lobes, resembling large, coarse teeth more than lobes. The leaf has seven to nine lobes.
Leaves are dark, shiny green above gray to shiny white and downy below.
The acorns usually occur in pairs and are very similar to white oak acorns except that they grow on long stalks. The acorn cap is smooth. The twigs are green and lustrous, becoming light orange colored or brown the first winter. The bark is smooth on small branches, purplish brown and separates into large, papery scales. On larger branches and trunks, itbreaks into broad, flat ridges, with deep fissures between.