View source for Quercus marilandica

{{Short description|Species of oak tree}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Blackjack oak
| image = Blackjack and little bluestem.png
| image_caption = Dormant blackjack in the [[Cross Timbers]] of [[Lincoln County, Oklahoma]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Wenzell, K. |author2=Kenny, L. |date=2015 |title=''Quercus marilandica'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T194195A2303635 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T194195A2303635.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = G5
| status2_system = TNC
| status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133493/Quercus_marilandica | title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 }}</ref>
| genus = Quercus
| display_parents = 2
| parent = Quercus sect. Lobatae
| species = marilandica
| authority = [[Otto von Münchhausen|Muenchh.]]<ref name=Muenchh />
| range_map = Quercus marilandica range map 1.png
| range_map_caption = Generalized natural range of ''Quercus marilandica''
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=powo /><ref name=Tropicos />
| synonyms = * ''Quercus cuneata'' <small>Wangenh.</small>
* ''Quercus dilatata'' <small>Raf.</small>
* ''Quercus ferruginea'' <small>F.Michx.</small>
* ''Quercus marilandica'' var. ''ashei'' <small>Sudw.</small>
* ''Quercus neoashei'' <small>Bush</small>
* ''Quercus nigra'' var. ''integrifolia'' <small>Marshall</small>
* ''Quercus nigra'' var. ''marilandica'' <small>L.</small>
* ''Quercus nigra'' var. ''quinqueloba'' <small>A.DC.</small>
* ''Quercus nobilis'' <small>Mast.</small>
}}

'''''Quercus marilandica''''', the '''blackjack oak''', is a small [[oak]], one of the [[Quercus section Lobatae|red oak group]] ''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''. It is native to the eastern and central United States.

==Description==
''Quercus marilandica'' is a small [[deciduous]] [[tree]] growing to {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} tall, with bark cracked into rectangular black plates with narrow orange fissures. The [[leaves]] are {{convert|7|-|20|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and broad, and typically flare from a tapered base to a broad three-lobed bell shape with only shallow indentations. They are dark green and glossy above, pubescent underneath, and often remain attached to the twigs through the winter after turning colors from red to brown in the fall. The [[acorn]] is small, {{convert|12|-|20|mm|in|sp=us|frac=8}} long and {{convert|10|-|18|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=8}} broad; like those of other red oaks, it takes 18 months to mature.<ref name=FNA>{{eFloras|1|233501060|Quercus marilandica |first=Kevin C. |last=Nixon |volume=3 |access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>

Blackjack oaks in the [[Cross Timbers]] can grow from {{convert|50|to|60|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} high but seldom reach more than {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, with a trunk diameter of {{convert|16|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}}. The leaves are from {{convert|4|to|10|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}} in length and about the same width.

{{gallery|mode=packed
|Image:Lewis County Blackjack Oak.JPG|Blackjack oak leaves
|Image:Oak-Stump-9832.jpg|Blackjack oak stump, approx. 75 years old
}}

== Distribution and habitat ==
The blackjack oak can be found from [[Long Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]] to [[Florida]], west as far as [[Texas]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[Nebraska]]. There are reports of a few isolated populations in southern [[Michigan]], but these appear to represent introductions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Quercus marilandica Range Map |url=https://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/quermari.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716082915/http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/quermari.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=2008-03-05 |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref><ref>{{BONAP|genus=Quercus|species=marilandica|date=2014|access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>

The species grows in poor, thin, dry, rocky or sandy soils where few other woody plants can thrive, usually on low ground, from sea level up to approximately {{convert|2800|ft|m|abbr=on|sp=us|order=flip}} in altitude. Some sources say that it does not have the beautiful form of many oaks, but is nonetheless a valuable tree for growing in problem sites.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/saf/jof/1942/00000040/00000003/art00011?crawler=true | title = Blackjack Oak in the Missouri Ozarks | last = Liming | first = Franklin G. | journal = Journal of Forestry | volume = 40 | issue = 3 | date = 1 March 1942 | pages = 249–252 | publisher = [[Society of American Foresters]]}}</ref> Some say that the tree is "tough but ugly", but also underappreciated.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/blackjack-oak.aspx | title = Plant of the Week: Blackjack Oak | first = Gerald | last = Klingaman | date = September 22, 2000 | work = Extension News | publisher = University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture | access-date = 31 October 2017 | archive-date = 2 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902220101/https://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/blackjack-oak.aspx }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.tallahassee.com/story/life/home-garden/2017/01/12/blackjack-oak-grows-hardscrabble-habitat/96497394/ | title = Blackjack oak grows in hardscrabble habitat | first = John | last = Nelson | date = 12 January 2017 | work = [[Tallahassee Democrat]] | location =  Tallahassee, Florida | access-date = 31 October 2017}}</ref> At times the tree has even been actively eradicated to provide room for trees deemed to be more commercially valuable.<ref>{{citation | url = https://archive.org/details/sproutingofblack137clar | title = Sprouting of Blackjack Oak in the Missouri Ozarks, Technical Paper No. 137 | first1 = F. Bryan | last1 = Clark | first2 = Franklin G. | last2 = Liming | date = December 1953 | publisher = Division of Forest Management, Central States Forest Experiment Station}}</ref>

It is sometimes an understory tree in pine stands on sandy knolls in the southeastern US. Along the coastal plain of [[New Jersey]] the probability of finding this species is increased in relatively sunny, open areas such as those near coastal salt marshes. It often occurs near [[Quercus coccinea|scarlet]] and [[Quercus stellata|post oaks]] as well as [[Pinus rigida|pitch pine]]; understory companions include [[Rhus copallinum|winged sumac]], [[bracken]], [[sweetfern]], and [[bayberry]], and can be found as far north as parts of [[Ohio]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.oplin.org/tree/fact%20pages/oak_blackjack/oak_blackjack.html | title = Blackjack Oak | work = What Tree Is It? | date = 1997 | publisher = Ohio Public Library Information Network and The Ohio Historical Society | access-date = 2017-01-17 | archive-date = 2019-04-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190404014836/http://oplin.org/tree/fact%20pages/oak_blackjack/oak_blackjack.html }}</ref> and New York.

A variety, ''Quercus marilandica'' Münchhausen var. ''ashei'' [[George Bishop Sudworth|Sudworth]],<ref name=FNA /> grows in the western portions of its range – northern [[Texas]], [[Oklahoma]], and into southern [[Kansas]]. In this area, blackjack and [[post oak]] form a semi-savanna area composed of forested strips intermixed with prairie grass glades along the eastern edge of the southern [[Great Plains]]. This semi-savanna is known as the Cross Timbers.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://biosurvey.ou.edu/conservation-biology/cross-timber-conservation/ | title = Ancient Cross Timbers | author = Oklahoma Biological Survey | year = 2016 | publisher = [[University of Oklahoma]] | access-date = 31 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.forestry.ok.gov/post-oak-blackjack-forest | title = Oklahoma's Forests > Oklahoma's Major Forest Types > Post Oak-Blackjack Forest | author = Oklahoma Forestry Services | publisher = Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry | access-date = 31 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://texnat.tamu.edu/library/symposia/brush-sculptors-innovations-for-tailoring-brushy-rangelands-to-enhance-wildlife-habitat-and-recreational-value/oak-ecology/ | title = Oak ecology | first = David M. | last = Engle | publisher = Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, [[Oklahoma State University–Stillwater|Oklahoma State University]] | location = Stillwater, Oklahoma | date = 18 March 1997 | access-date = 31 October 2017}}</ref> Scrub forms of ''Q.&nbsp;marilandica'' dominate on many [[chert]] glades along with ''[[Quercus stellata|Q.&nbsp;stellata]]'' in Arkansas's Ozark plateau.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | first = C. Michael | last = Hogan | date = 26 November 2012 | url = http://www.eoearth.org/article/Oak | title = Oak | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Earth | editor-first = A. | editor-last = Dawson | editor2-first = C.J. | editor2-last = Cleveland | publisher = National Council for Science and the Environment | location = Washington DC | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523173442/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Oak | archive-date=May 23, 2013 }}</ref>

== Ecology ==
Blackjack oak sometimes hybridizes with [[bear oak]] (''Q.&nbsp;ilicifolia''), forming a hybrid known as [[Quercus × brittonii|''Q.'' × ''brittonii'']].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Quercus marilandica – Blackjack Oak |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Life |publisher=Biodiversity Heritage Library |url=http://eol.org/pages/1151451/details |access-date=31 October 2017 |last=Shapiro |first=Leo |date=28 September 2012}}</ref>

Blackjack acorns provide food for both [[White-tailed deer|whitetail deer]] and [[wild turkey]]. Blackjacks may, however, cause [[tannic acid]] poisoning in cattle.

==Uses==
The [[wood]] is very dense and produces a hot flame when burned, which functions as an excellent source of heat for [[barbecue]]s and wood-burning stoves. However, the wood is not desirable for wood [[fireplace]]s because the heat causes popping, thereby increasing the risk of house fires.<ref>{{cite book | editor-first = Stephan L. | editor-last = Hatch | editor2-first = Jennifer | editor2-last = Pluhar | title = Texas Range Plants | location = College Station, Texas | publisher = [[Texas A&M University]] Press | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-89096-538-2}}</ref>

Traditionally blackjack wood is used as both a fuel and smoke wood for [[barbecue in Oklahoma]].

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=powo>{{Cite POWO |id=284111-2 |title=Quercus marilandica (L.) Münchh |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=Tropicos>{{Tropicos|13100099|Quercus marilandica|Münchh |access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>

<ref name=Muenchh>{{cite book |last=Münchhausen |first=Otto von |date=1770 |chapter=Verzeichniß der Bäume und Stauden, welche in Deutschland fortkommen <!-- |trans-title=Index of trees and perennials that come away into Germany ? --> |title=Der Hausvater |chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/13511 |volume=5 |place=Hannover |publisher=Försters und Sohns Erben |pages=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47446300 253] |postscript=: [[diagnosis (taxonomy)|diagnosis]] in Latin, description in German in [[Teutonic alphabet|Teutonic script]].}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Quercus marilandica|position=left}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q845791}}

[[Category:Quercus|marilandica]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of the United States]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern America]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1770]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Otto von Münchhausen]]