Quercus palustris
Pin oak

Credit: Unknown photographer/Wikimedia

Pin oak (Quercus palustris), also sometimes called swamp oak or water oak, is a fast-growing, moderately large deciduous tree species renowned for its red foliage in the autumn. It has a distinct pyramidal shape and deeply lobed leaves. Native to North America, its distribution spans from the central east coast to the central US. It was introduced to Europe in the seventeenth century, where it is now used as an ornamental tree in urban parks. Pin oak thrives in humid and subhumid areas in lowlands, wetlands, and floodplains, displaying a preference for moist, acidic soils, but also growing on poorly drained clay soils. The species is monoecious, shade tolerant, and able to tolerate summer droughts. Its seeds are distributed by animals such as jays and squirrels. The species is an essential component of wetland ecosystems, contributing to soil stabilization and water retention.

in situ genetic conservation unit
ex situ genetic conservation unit
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Acknowledgements

This distribution map has been developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (partly based on the EUFORGEN map) and released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0)


Caudullo, G., Welk, E., San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., 2017. Chorological maps for the main European woody species. Data in Brief 12, 662-666. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2017.05.007

The following experts have contributed to the development of the EUFORGEN distribution maps:

Fazia Krouchi (Algeria), Hasmik Ghalachyan (Armenia), Thomas Geburek (Austria), Berthold Heinze (Austria), Rudi Litschauer (Austria), Rudolf Litschauer (Austria), Michael Mengl (Austria), Ferdinand Müller (Austria), Franz Starlinger (Austria), Valida Ali-zade (Azerbaijan), Vahid Djalal Hajiyev (Azerbaijan), Karen Cox (Belgium), Bart De Cuyper (Belgium), Olivier Desteucq (Belgium), Patrick Mertens (Belgium), Jos Van Slycken (Belgium), An Vanden Broeck (Belgium), Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge (Belgium), Dalibor Ballian (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Alexander H. Alexandrov (Bulgaria), Alexander Delkov (Bulgaria), Ivanova Denitsa Pandeva (Bulgaria), Peter Zhelev Stoyanov (Bulgaria), Joso Gracan (Croatia), Marilena Idzojtic (Croatia), Mladen Ivankovic (Croatia), Željka Ivanović (Croatia), Davorin Kajba (Croatia), Hrvoje Marjanovic (Croatia), Sanja Peric (Croatia), Andreas Christou (Cyprus), Xenophon Hadjikyriacou (Cyprus), Václav Buriánek (Czech Republic), Jan Chládek (Czech Republic), Josef Frýdl (Czech Republic), Petr Novotný (Czech Republic), Martin Slovacek (Czech Republic), Zdenek Špišek (Czech Republic), Karel Vancura (Czech Republic), Ulrik Bräuner (Denmark), Bjerne Ditlevsen (Denmark), Jon Kehlet Hansen (Denmark), Jan Svejgaard Jensen (Denmark), Kalev Jðgiste (Estonia), Tiit Maaten (Estonia), Raul Pihu (Estonia), Ülo Tamm (Estonia), Arvo Tullus (Estonia), Aivo Vares (Estonia), Teijo Nikkanen (Finland), Sanna Paanukoski (Finland), Mari Rusanen (Finland), Pekka Vakkari (Finland), Leena Yrjänä (Finland), Daniel Cambon (France), Eric Collin (France), Alexis Ducousso (France), Bruno Fady (France), François Lefèvre (France), Brigitte Musch (France), Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio (France), Luc E. Pâques (France), Julien Saudubray (France), Marc Villar (France), Vlatko Andonovski (FYR Macedonia), Dragi Pop-Stojanov (FYR Macedonia), Merab Machavariani (Georgia), Irina Tvauri (Georgia), Alexander Urushadze (Georgia), Bernd Degen (Germany), Jochen Kleinschmit (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Volker Schneck (Germany), Richard Stephan (Germany), H. H. Kausch-Blecken Von Schmeling (Germany), Georg von Wühlisch (Germany), Iris Wagner (Germany), Heino Wolf (Germany), Paraskevi Alizoti (Greece), Filippos Aravanopoulos (Greece), Andreas Drouzas (Greece), Despina Paitaridou (Greece), Aristotelis C. Papageorgiou (Greece), Kostas Thanos (Greece), Sándor Bordács (Hungary), Csaba Mátyás (Hungary), László Nagy (Hungary), Thröstur Eysteinsson (Iceland), Adalsteinn Sigurgeirsson (Iceland), Halldór Sverrisson (Iceland), John Fennessy (Ireland), Ellen O'Connor (Ireland), Fulvio Ducci (Italy), Silvia Fineschi (Italy), Bartolomeo Schirone (Italy), Marco Cosimo Simeone (Italy), Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin (Italy), Lorenzo Vietto (Italy), Janis Birgelis (Latvia), Virgilijus Baliuckas (Lithuania), Kestutis Cesnavicius (Lithuania), Darius Danusevicius (Lithuania), Valmantas Kundrotas (Lithuania), Alfas Pliûra (Lithuania), Darius Raudonius (Lithuania), Robert du Fays (Luxembourg), Myriam Heuertz (Luxembourg), Claude Parini (Luxembourg), Fred Trossen (Luxembourg), Frank Wolter (Luxembourg), Joseph Buhagiar (Malta), Eman Calleja (Malta), Ion Palancean (Moldova), Dragos Postolache (Moldova), Gheorghe Postolache (Moldova), Hassan Sbay (Morocco), Tor Myking (Norway), Tore Skrøppa (Norway), Anna Gugala (Poland), Jan Kowalczyk (Poland), Czeslaw Koziol (Poland), Jan Matras (Poland), Zbigniew Sobierajski (Poland), Maria Helena Almeida (Portugal), Filipe Costa e Silva (Portugal), Luís Reis (Portugal), Maria Carolina Varela (Portugal), Ioan Blada (Romania), Alexandru-Lucian Curtu (Romania), Lucian Dinca (Romania), Georgeta Mihai (Romania), Mihai Olaru (Romania), Gheorghe Parnuta (Romania), Natalia Demidova (Russian Federation), Mikhail V. Pridnya (Russian Federation), Andrey Prokazin (Russian Federation), Srdjan Bojovic (Serbia) , Vasilije Isajev (Serbia), Saša Orlovic (Serbia), Rudolf Bruchánik (Slovakia), Roman Longauer (Slovakia), Ladislav Paule (Slovakia), Gregor Bozič (Slovenia), Robert Brus (Slovenia), Katarina Celič (Slovenia), Hojka Kraigher (Slovenia), Andrej Verlič (Slovenia), Marjana Westergren (Slovenia), Ricardo Alía (Spain), Josefa Fernández-López (Spain), Luis Gil Sanchez (Spain), Pablo Gonzalez Goicoechea (Spain), Santiago C. González-Martínez (Spain), Sonia Martin Albertos (Spain), Eduardo Notivol Paino (Spain), María Arantxa Prada (Spain), Alvaro Soto de Viana (Spain), Lennart Ackzell (Sweden), Jonas Bergquist (Sweden), Sanna Black-Samuelsson (Sweden), Jonas Cedergren (Sweden), Gösta Eriksson (Sweden), Markus Bolliger (Switzerland), Felix Gugerli (Switzerland), Rolf Holderegger (Switzerland), Peter Rotach (Switzerland), Marcus Ulber (Switzerland), Sven M.G. de Vries (The Netherlands), Khouja Mohamed Larbi (Tunisia), Murat Alan (Turkey), Gaye Kandemir (Turkey), Gursel Karagöz (Turkey), Zeki Kaya (Turkey), Hasan Özer (Turkey), Hacer Semerci (Turkey), Ferit Toplu (Turkey), Mykola M. Vedmid (Ukraine), Roman T. Volosyanchuk (Ukraine), Stuart A'Hara (United Kingdom), Joan Cottrell (United Kingdom), Colin Edwards (United Kingdom), Michael Frankis (United Kingdom), Jason Hubert (United Kingdom), Karen Russell (United Kingdom), C.J.A. Samuel (United Kingdom).
 

Status of Quercus palustris conservation in Europe

The species is poorly studied, and genetic information is lacking. Therefore, no genetically distinct populations or separation has been identified within pin oak (Barta et al., 2017). However, differences in populations’ tolerance to floods or iron chlorosis (iron deficiency) suggests there are genetically distinct populations (McQuilkin, n.d.). Pin oak was found to be the most genetically distinct when compared with red oak (Quercus rubra) and Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii) (Aldrich et al., 2003).

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

Interspecific taxa dynamics

Oaks have a high tendency to hybridize and have limited genetic barriers between one another. This makes it difficult to identify oak species through DNA barcoding (Johnson and Trott, 2017). Pin oak frequently hybridizes with red oak but, potentially, five hybrids of the species have been recognized: Quercus palustris x shumardii, Quercus palustris x velutina, Quercus palustris x phellos, Quercus palustris x rubra, and an unnamed hybrid with scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) (McQuilkin, n.d.; Aldrich et al., 2003). Hybridization, difficulty in genetically identifying the species, and a lack of research creates many taxonomic uncertainties in the species (Aldrich et al., 2003). Even using morphological identifiers can be a poor way to identify underlying genetic structure in oak populations, contributing further to the uncertainty of genetic distribution in pin oak (Aldrich et al., 2003).

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

No available information.

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

Genetic Characterisation of Quercus palustris and its GCUs

Availability of FRM

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Contacts of experts

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Further reading

Behringer, G. 2015. The genetic characterization of Northeastern Quercus associated Xylella fastidiosa populations. PhD thesis, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. Available at: https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/48391/

References

Aldrich, P.R., Parker, G.A., Michler, C.H., and Romero-Severson, J. 2003. Whole-tree silvic identifications and the microsatellite genetic structure of a red oak species complex in an Indiana old-growth forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research,  33(11): 2228–2237.

Barta, C., Bolander, B., Bilby, S., Brown, J., Brown, R., Duryee, A., Edelman, D., Gray, C., Gossett, C., Haddock, A., Helsel, M., Jones, A., Klingseis, M., Leslie, K., Miles, E., and Prawitz, R. 2017. In situ dark adaptation enhances the efficiency of DNA extraction from mature pin oak (Quercus palustris) leaves, facilitating the identification of partial sequences of the 18S rRNA and isoprene synthase (IspS) genes. Plants, 6(4): 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants6040052

Johnson, M. and Trott, T. 2017. DNA barcoding of Quercus falcata, Quercus palustris, Quercus rubra, and their hybrids using rbcL, matK, and ycf1. Research in Biology 6. Collegedale, TN, USA, Southern Adventist University. Available at: https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/research_bio/6

McQuilkin, R.A. n.d. Quercus palustris Muenchh: Pin oak. Asheville, NC, USA, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Available at: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/quercus/palustris.htm