// SPECIES PROFILE · TREE · NATIVE

Chinkapin Oak

Quercus muehlenbergii

Often called yellow chestnut oak for its chestnut-shaped, coarsely toothed (not lobed) leaves, chinkapin oak is the alkaline-soil specialist of NE Oklahoma — the oak you'll find growing straight out of limestone bluffs along the Verdigris and Caney rivers.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Fagaceae
Group: tree
Native range: E. & C. US incl. OK limestone uplands and Ozark glades
USDA hardiness: Zones 4–8
Mature size: 40–60 ft
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Drought-hardy on calcareous soils
Wildlife value: Sweet white-oak acorns mature in 1 season; turkey/deer favorite
Ecological role: limestone glade specialist · sweet acorns

Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) — *Quercus muehlenbergii*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

One of the few oaks that thrives on high-pH soils where post oak fails. Sweet, thin-shelled acorns are among the most wildlife-prized mast in North America.

Why it's on this list: limestone glade specialist · sweet acorns. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a Cross Timbers oak-hickory savanna, chinkapin oak pairs naturally with: chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia), crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), american alumroot (Heuchera americana), inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), and fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica).

chinkapin oak works best as a canopy or sub-canopy partner above the herbaceous and shrub layers.

Photo Reference

// Quercus muehlenbergii — chinkapin oak
Photo: amanda25918 (iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC)