Post oak

Post oak or Iron oak (Quercus stellata) is a type of white oak tree native to the Southeastern United States. In the forest the tree can grow to 80 feet tall with large, gnarled branches and a dense, rounded crown. Its name derives from the use of the wood for fence posts.

The tree's distinctive wide-lobed cross-shaped leaves grow alternately on densely pubescent twigs. Gray-green in summer, they turn a dull brown in Fall.

The acorns are 1/2" to 1" long, sometimes striped. The bark is deeply fissured, similar to White oak, but gray-brown. The wood of the Post oak is marketed as White oak, but tends not to produce the strongest timber of the family. It is somewhat rot resistant and has therefore been often used for fenceposts. It is also popular as a smokehouse wood and as a shade tree.

The tree is common in dry woodlands and on rocky and sandy soils across the state. Its range stretches from Southern New England to central Texas. Along with the Blackjack oak it predominates in the Cross Timbers bordering the Great Plains. It is slow growing and drought tolerant, but sometimes susceptible to chestnut blight.

A variant of the species, called Sand post oak or Scrub post oak (Quercus stellata var. margaretta) has smaller leaves with more rounded lobes and rarely exceeds 40 feet in height. It is more often found on forested coastal plains and sand hills, and along the fall line.

Sometimes the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), whose hard and durable wood is used for fence posts, has also been referred to by the name post oak.

References

• Kirkman, L. Katherine, Claude L. Brown & Donald J. Leopold (2007) Native Trees of the Southeast. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press ISBN 9780881928280