It is often shrubby with a low, rounded crown. Dwarfed forms of blackjack oak exist on Buzzard's Roost, Missouri, and in the Pine Plains of New Jersey. In the New Jersey Pine Plains, the dwarfed blackjack oaks are multistemmed with large, irregularly shaped stools that are considerably older than the current stems. It bears seeds at a younger age than many associated arborescent oaks. Dissemination is by gravity and animals.
Germination is hypogeal.
Sprouts grow faster than seedlings. Because of slow growth, it is probably overtopped by other species, including most oaks. It probably persists and becomes dominant on sites too poor for faster growing species. In a study in central Illinois, dry sandy sites were dominated by blackjack oak and black oak. The two species also dominated the seedling and sapling layers.