Native Plant Database

Simpson, Benny

Quercus incana Bartr.

Bluejack oak, Sandjack oak, Upland willow oak, Cinnamon oak, Shin oak, Turkey oak

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

USDA Symbol: QUIN

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Thicket-forming shrub or small tree with an irregular crown of stout, crooked branches and distinctive, blue-green foliage. A shrub or small tree that grows up to 55 feet (16.8 m), with irregular spreading open crown, often forming thickets. BARK: thick dark gray to black, wide furrows forming rough square plates. TWIGS and BUDS: brown twigs, densely pubescent when young; reddish-brown buds, narrowly ovoid and 5-angled in cross-section, often with hairs at apex. LEAVES: short, pubescent petiole less than 3⁄8 inch (10 mm) long; leaf is narrowly ovate to elliptical, 1 1⁄8 - 4 inches (29 - 101 mm) long 1⁄2 - 1 3⁄8 inches (13 - 35 mm) wide, base acute to rounded, apex acute with a bristle-tip, margin is entire (juvenile foliage may have 2 - 3 shallow lobes), thick and leathery, upper surface shiny bluish- green with raised veins and sparsely pubescent along midrib, pubescence beneath with axillary tufts of hair.

Easily recognized by the distinctive deciduous leaves. The common name refers to the shiny blue-green foliage, while the Latin species name, meaning hoary, describes the gray-green undersurface. The largest known specimen grows in Pasco County, Florida.

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