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Fagaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Quercus muehlenbergii

Quercus muehlenbergii

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

All parts of the plant contain tannins. Whilst tannins are found in many foods, and have a range of medicinal uses. They are usually only present in low concentrations. In some foods made from oaks (particularly the seeds), the tannin content can be quite high unless the food is treated to reduce tannin content. Tannins are only of low toxicity and, because of their bitter taste and astringency, are unlikely to be eaten in large quantities. However, if they are taken in excess, they can cause stomach pains; constipation followed by bloody diarrhoea: excessive thirst; and excessive urination[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthMedium

Quercus muehlenbergii is a very cold-hardy tree, tolerating temperatures down to around -30°c when dormant. It grows best in areas with hot summers. In areas with cooler summers, such as the maritime regions of the temperate zone, it often grows poorly, failing to properly ripen its wood and suffering frost damage over the winter[2, 3]. Grows best in a sunny position[4], though young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[3]. Prefers a good deep fertile, well-drained loam which can be on the stiff side[5, 2]. Succeeds on clay and alkaline soils[4]. Found in the wild on dry, rocky sites, such as calcareous bluffs, rocky hillsides, and protected slopes and canyons. It also occurs in glades and valleys, and along rocky streambanks[6]. It tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[3]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[4]. This species is localized throughout its range and seems dependent upon soil type and pH above 6. It readily reproduces by sprouting. Growth is fairly rapid for an oak[7], especially when the tree is young, though it slows down with age[8]. It can take up to 30 years before the tree starts to produce acorns[9]. Seed production is cyclic, a year with high yields is followed by 2 - 3 years of light crops[8]. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[3, 8]. Quercus muhlenbergii brayi (Small.)Sarg., has somewhat larger seeds than the type, sometimes 3cm long[7]. Closely related to Quercus prinus[2]. Trees are often confused with Quercus prinus, Quercus prinoides and Quercus michauxii[3]. Trees respond well to coppicing[10]. Seedlings soon develop a taproot and become intolerant of root disturbance, they should be planted into their permanent positions whilst young[2]. Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[3]. This species is threatened by fire, to a certain extent. Severe wildfire kills saplings and small pole-size trees but these re-sprout. Fire scars serve as entry points for decay-causing fungi, however, and the resulting decay can cause serious losses[11]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[3].

Propagation

Seed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees[2]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Quercus+muehlenbergii>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Southern Trees Fact Sheets — Gilman E.F. · University of Florida, IFAS Extension · http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/department_envhort-trees ↩︎A series of fact sheets on trees that can be grown in Florida. They can be downloaded from the Internet
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Fire Effects Information System — http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ ↩︎An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
  7. [7]Trees of North Texas — Vines. R.A. · University of Texas Press. · 1982 · ISBN 0292780206 ↩︎A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.
  8. [8]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  9. [9]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  10. [10]Trees of Central Texas. — Vines. R. A. · University of Texas Press · 1987 · ISBN 0-292-78958-3 ↩︎A good concise guide, it gives details of habitats and some of the uses of trees growing in Texas.
  11. [11]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  12. [12]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  13. [13]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  14. [14]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  15. [15]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  17. [17]Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Some Quercus Species Growing in Turkey — Didem Söhretoğlu; Melike Ekizoğlu; Ekrem Kiliç; M. Koray Sak · 2007 ↩︎
  18. [18]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  19. [19]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
  20. [20]Manual of the Trees of N. America. — Sargent. C. S. · Dover Publications Inc. New York. · 1965 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ · ISBN 0-486-20278-X ↩︎Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  21. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎