Plant · P-997

Overcup Oak

Quercus lyrata

Overcup Oak is a slow-growing white oak of river floodplains and swamp margins, so flood-tolerant it survives continuous submersion for two full growing seasons and leafs out a month later than its neighbors to ride out spring high water. Its acorn sits almost entirely inside its cup - the trait the name comes from - and is sweeter and lower in tannin than most oak acorns, needing far less leaching before it's ground into flour or roasted as a coffee substitute. The wood is unusually durable in ground contact for an oak, used for construction, tools and furniture, but nothing arrives quickly: acorns don't start until about 25 years old and good crops come only every third or fourth year. Its shallow, saucer-shaped roots hold wet clay in place but resent disturbance, so it grows best planted young and left alone.