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Name That Plant!

Tree --- Dwarf Pin Oak ???

16 years ago

A few years ago while visiting in Utah, we saw some small, abt 5-6 ft. tall trees that at the time were identified as Pin Oak. They were used mostly as decorative trees, in groups of threes if in the center of a lawn or grown along the edge ( sides ) of a lawn as a border. I believe they spread easily by underground roots.

Can some one give me the correct name and if they will grow in Wa. state where we have lots of snow in the winters and some areas are predominately clay soil. Actually i want to plant them in an area with more of a snady soil. I have never noticed any growing in this area.... Zone 6, or in the garden stores.

Do they transplant easily ? Can they be orderd from a garden catalog?

Thanks,

PJJ

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Comments (11)

Embothrium
16 years ago
Suckerous habit makes me think these might have instead been a species of Rhus.
User
16 years ago
Clonal Oaks link.

HTH
Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Oak Scrub
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Embothrium
16 years ago
Although they even compare the "mottes" to aspen and buffalograss in the above article they do not state explicitly that the clumps of stems are resulting from suckerous growth like that of a sumac (or aspen), where a creeping underground rootstock grows outward indefinitely. Sprouting spread out over the normal root systems of old individual seedlings could account for the separate stems of the oaks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia Mott Live Oak
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
Pin oaks grow readily here and you can see some sizeable specimens in older gardens and parks. 'Sizeable' is a key word - while there are dwarf varieties of pin oaks, they are not particularly common nor would they tend to make an ideal hedging plant.

I'd be incline to think the small trees/shrubs you saw were misidentified. Bboy offers a reasonable alternative and there could well be others. Any chance of a photo?
User
16 years ago
While I agree this could be a case of mistaken identity Suckering
Oaks are not all that rare or unusual. This is truly how several Quercus species proliferate and I disagree that they don't specifically state that the trees are from a common root system.

Regards
Chris
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
could you be thinking about an oak leaf hydrenga???

link below

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
Embothrium
16 years ago
"Common root system" does not automatically equate to creeping rootstock, in the manner of a sumac, aspen or bamboo, resulting in small specimens that "spread easily by underground roots".
Embothrium
16 years ago
When this was first brought up I wondered if someone might have been calling Gambel oak "pin oak". But the description of how the shrub in question was being used in gardens didn't seem at the time to fit. Maybe it actually did. Gambel oak is native to Utah and

spreads most rapidly from root sprouts that grow from vast underground structures called lignotubers. These reproductive characteristics often result in dense groves or thickets of the trees that often cover entire mountainsides

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia Gambel Oak
User
16 years ago
"Common root system" does not automatically equate to creeping rootstock"

Clonal does imply suckering, not root grafts. Have you never
seen a Quercus viginiana or Q. fusiformis proliferating via
creeping rootstocks that sucker to form groves?

Regards
Chris
Embothrium
16 years ago
Clonal just means the whole unit is one plant genetically. Suckers (sprouts from the ground) can be coming up from more than one type of structure, including lignotubers. Anyway, there is a low growing oak native to Utah that spreads underground and might have been what was seen in a few yards. Next step is to find out if Gambel oak looks like what was seen and asked about.
pjjujospk
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks to all who answered, will continue searching. These were growing in a newer housing development and often planted on a raised irregular area purposely designed to show them off, usually out in the center or corner of a lawn.
pjj

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