Sawtooth oak (Invasive Plants of Maryland)

Sawtooth oak

Quercus acutissima

Description ⁹

Quercus acutissima is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 25–30 metres (82–98 ft) tall with a trunk up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. The leaves are 8–20 centimetres (3.1–7.9 in) long and 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) wide, with 14-20 small saw-tooth like triangular lobes on each side, with the teeth of very regular shape.

The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins. The fruit is an acorn, maturing about 18 months after pollination, 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long and 2 cm broad, bicoloured with an orange basal half grading to a green-brown tip; the acorn cup is 1.5–2 centimetres (0.59–0.79 in) deep, densely covered in soft 4–8 millimetres (0.16–0.31 in) long 'mossy' bristles. It is closely related to Quercus cerris, classified with it in Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that mature in about 18 months.

Distribution ¹⁰

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, SE Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cambodia, NE India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, N Thailand, Vietnam]