Uncommon and spottily distributed in Maryland.
Chinquapin Oak ranges throughout the eastern United States except in the far north. It is found mainly in mixed deciduous pine forests and is most common on limestone and calcareous soils. It is very localized in distribution.
Leaf blade is widest towards the tip and is eathery. The blade has numerous side veins, each ending in a tooth or shallow lobe. These lobes or teeth number 8 to 13 on each side (Brown and Brown, 1972). The upper leaf surface is shiny and dark green, the lower light green with very small hairs. The terminal bud is reddish-brown and sparsely hairy, with a blunt tip. Bark is light gray, thin, and scaly. Acorns mature in one year, as is typical in the White Oak group, and have a small, thin cup with grey pubescence. The cup covers 1/4 to 1/2 of the nut, which is light brown and up to 1 inch long (Stein, et al., 2003). It can readily reproduce by sprouts.
There is a good stand of mature Chinquapin Oak at the Marsden Tract, C&O National Historical Park, in the Cabin John area of Montgomery County, Maryland.
Host plant to various moth species including the Buck Moth (Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants).
There are 26 records in the project database.
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