Tree · Fagaceae
Black oak
Quercus velutina
Black oak is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,310 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Black oak at a glance
- Native in
- 1,310 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −30°F
- Mature height
- 80 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −30°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Black oak is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,310 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,310 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 57 counties
- Arkansas 72 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 7 counties
- Georgia 30 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 65 counties
- Iowa 19 counties
- Kansas 32 counties
- Kentucky 117 counties
- Louisiana 29 counties
- Maine 4 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 39 counties
- Minnesota 6 counties
- Mississippi 30 counties
- Missouri 110 counties
- Nebraska 9 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 33 counties
- North Carolina 52 counties
- Ohio 82 counties
- Oklahoma 47 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- Tennessee 50 counties
- Texas 10 counties
- Vermont 4 counties
- Virginia 96 counties
- West Virginia 44 counties
- Wisconsin 31 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 80 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −30°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fagaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- QUVE
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Quercus velutina (PLANTS symbol QUVE).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources