Laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia): what the agencies record

This page reports what US federal publications say about one tree. It does not identify trees from descriptions or photos and does not say what should be done with any tree. The family overview, tree species in the agency records, explains the sources and holds the comparison table.

At a glance

Item	What the source records
Scientific name	Quercus laurifolia Michx. in USDA PLANTS, beech family
Other names	Darlington oak, diamond-leaf oak, swamp laurel oak, laurel-leaf oak, water oak and obtusa oak (Silvics)
Native status, USDA PLANTS	Native in the lower 48 states
Size and age, Silvics	Largest volume in the 25 to 36 cm (10 to 14 in) diameter classes, with average total heights of 18 to 21 m (59 to 69 ft); the handbook says it usually matures in about 50 years
Roots, Silvics	A large, well-defined taproot on upland sands, seen on trees uprooted for road construction; the handbook found no published rooting studies
Green weight of the wood, NRS-38	64 lb per cubic foot, without bark

Native range

The Silvics of North America handbook (Agriculture Handbook 654, volume 2, 1990) calls laurel oak a rapid-growing, short-lived tree of the moist woods of the southeastern Coastal Plain. It says the species is native to the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southeastern Virginia to southern Florida and west to southeastern Texas, with island populations north of its main range, and that the best formed and largest number of laurel oaks are in north Florida and Georgia. The chapter notes a long disagreement over the identity of the tree, centred on leaf shape and growing site, and says the diamond-leaf oak (Quercus obtusa) is treated here as the same species.

Flowers and growth

Silvics says laurel oak is monoecious, with male flowers in catkins from earlier growth's leaf axils and female flowers usually solitary on short stalks from the current year's leaves. Flowering is in February and March, about the time the last of the old leaves are shed, and flower crops are abundant almost every year.

On growth, the handbook says laurel oak grows rapidly, which has led to wide use as an ornamental, and gives a conservative estimate of 6.4 cm (2.5 in) of diameter every 10 years. It says the species has the poorest timber quality of the red and black oaks, produces sawtimber only on the best sites, and is marketed mainly as pulpwood. Among inventoried trees 13 cm (5 in) and larger, the handbook gives an average annual mortality of 1.1 percent and says laurel oak shares a high mortality rate with water oak because of relatively thin bark and susceptibility to fire.

Planting and wildlife

Silvics says laurel oak has been widely planted in the South as an ornamental, perhaps because of the attractive leaves that give it its common name, and that large acorn crops are produced regularly. It lists white-tailed deer, raccoons, squirrels, wild turkeys, ducks, quail and smaller birds and rodents among the animals that eat the acorns, and says laurel oak acorns ranked second only to live oak in quantity and frequency in the crops of 32 wild turkeys examined in Florida.

Wood

Silvics says laurel oak has no value as lumber but makes good fuelwood. The Wood Handbook (FPL-GTR-282, 2021) groups it in the red oak group of the Eastern states; what it says about that group is set out once on the northern red oak page. Table 5-3b has a separate laurel oak row, shown below.

Wood Handbook Table 5-3b	Specific gravity	Modulus of rupture (lbf per square inch)	Side hardness (lbf)
Green	0.56	7,900	1,000
At 12% moisture content	0.63	12,600	1,210

The Wood Handbook states that specific gravity is based on oven-dry weight and the volume when green or at 12% moisture content. The green weight of the wood without bark is in the NRS-38 table, the same figure used in the log weight calculator.

Diseases, insects and damage the handbook names

Silvics (1990) says laurel oak is host to the general oak-feeding insects but that no serious insect problem is mentioned in the literature.

Fire. Called especially hazardous: laurel oaks are frequently killed by even light ground fires, and the handbook says heart rots are common in trees subject to occasional burns.
Acorn weevils. Several Curculio weevils infest the acorns.
Fusiform rust. Laurel oak, water oak and willow oak are named as the three most susceptible hosts for the alternate stage of the fusiform rust of southern pines (Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme), without being seriously harmed themselves.
Leaf and wood fungi. Oak leaf blister (Taphrina caerulescens), actinopelte spot and canker rots caused by various fungi.

The guide on reporting a pest in the United States and the Canada reporting page give the offices that take sightings of regulated pests. Who may apply pesticides is in pesticide licences by country.