Quercus muehlenbergii

Narrow, not fuzzy leaves.

Attracts hummingbirds, birds, and butterflies. Larval host for the gray hairstreak.

Eastern North America from Vermont, New York, and southern Ontario south across the eastern US as far west as Oklahoma, Texas, and southeastern New Mexico, south into northeastern Mexico as far south as Nuevo Leon and Hidalgo. In Texas, native from the northeast southwest across central Texas, with a separate population in far west Texas.

Limestone and calcareous soils in mixed deciduous and pine forests. Calcareous bluffs and upland woods, often near the forest edge, or sometimes in valleys and then usually near limestone.

All of the white oaks are heavy, very hard, and strong. The wood is subject to large shrinkage during seasoning, and extra care must be taken to avoid checking and warping. Pores of the heartwood are impervious to liquids, making white oak the only successful wood for use as tight cooperage. Large amounts of higher grades are used for bourbon barrels. The heartwood is comparatively decay resistant, more so than that of red oaks. White oaks are above average in all machining operations except shaping. All oaks in the white oak group share just about the same properties and uses. Most white oak is made into lumber for flooring, furniture, tight cooperage, millwork, timbers, handles, boxes, and crates. Perhaps the largest amounts go into high-quality flooring, barrels, kegs, and casks. It is prized for use of construction of ships and boats.