Bartram Oak Acorns

Bartram oak represents naturally occurring hybrid swarms between red oak and willow oak found mostly on the east coast of the U.S. Over the years I had heard of the tree but could not find anyone to get seeds of some of the more famous trees along the east coast as well as finding it in the 'wild' whatever form that may take. Eventually one of the seed collectors found a very nice tree and I purchased and grew several dozen of the trees and sold them for a while.  This discovery set off a fiery debate on the botany of the whole thing. This eventually smoldered into a pile of compost much like the end results of my Sunmar toilet. No one cared. As the trees grew you could see the willow oak within the red oak type leaves but the variation was less apparent with this group as they were close to the red oak family. Some had thought earlier that it was crossed with black oak as well.  I kept one tree which was the most vigorous of the lot. The mature bark, acorns and leaves show this beautiful variation all on one tree.

Bartram oak could easily be developed into a more pronounced seed strain especially if the selections were made based on fast growth and clean foliage. Unlike the other heterophylla oaks I grow called Redwillow oak, this one is more even in its growth with a broader more squatty trunk. I could see where this would make a good urban tree as well as a strong timber tree in the right spot. Another candidate similar to this is Quercus x exacta which has even more of a pronounced timber growth. Bartram oak has the advantage of its ability to grow in a wide range of soil conditions. Not much is known about the wood quality. Trees like this are sometimes viewed as sterile in the plant world. It takes several and maybe even a red oak or two to improve pollination for seed set.