# Boynton Oak (Quercus boyntonii) > A critically endangered white oak that stays low and shrubby, spreading from underground stems into colonies on sandstone and deep sand. Also called Alabama sandstone oak, Boynton's oak, Boynton sand post oak, Boynton's sand post oak, Quercus stellata var. boyntonii. Category: Rare & Uncommon Oaks. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/boynton-oak/ ![Boynton oak (Quercus boyntonii) glossy leaves with three rounded lobes near the tip, on a branch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/boynton-oak-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Bruce Kirchoff, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_Boyntonii.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 6 to 20 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 9 - Grows wild in: Rocky ground, dry uplands and sandy barrens - Native range: Alabama and Texas - Sun: Full - Soil moisture: Dry, Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Rare, Drought tolerant, Wildlife value - Sold as: Saplings, Acorns Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Boynton oak is known today only from sandstone outcrops and glade edges in the pine, oak and hickory woods of central Alabama. Surveys through 2023 put the wild population at about 1,800 plants, and NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled. It was once named a variety of post oak, and plants intermediate with the sand post oak we also grow are known. Plant it in a sunny rock garden or a dry, sandy glade planting, where it can spread into a low clump. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source we read rates Boynton oak's growth, so our growth estimator uses its slow class, a foot a year. Most are shrubs of about 6 feet, and a few reach 19 feet. Exceptional plants stand 33 feet, and one clonal plant covers about 115 feet of ridge. It flowers from March to May, and collectors gathered ripe acorns in late September and October. The nut is up to five eighths of an inch long, up to half in a gray, downy cup. Crops are often light, and in 2020 only 2 percent of plants bore over 100 acorns. Caterpillars of the pink-striped oakworm feed on the leaves. Its wild range covers about nine counties of central Alabama. In Texas it is known only from past records in Angelina County. In Blount County some grow down to a river's scour zone, where floods cover their roots. ## How to grow Boynton Oak Boynton oak wants full sun and a dry, well-drained soil, a deep sand or a thin soil over sandstone. Wild colonies also grow in deep sand along streams. Shade from crowding trees and shrubs weakens it, so give it an open site. Set plants 10 feet apart, and keep each one 10 feet from a wall. It may stand within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. White oak acorns sprout soon after they fall. Sow them on arrival, an inch deep, under hardware cloth. Huntsville Botanical Garden now shields its fall-sown acorns with frost cloth, after a hard January freeze was blamed in part for poor germination. Water every week or two through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Even botanic gardens lose many young plants while they establish, so weed around them and watch them closely. Guard each one with a tube or cage against deer and rabbits for its first two years. The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby. Boynton oak belongs to the white oak group, whose acorns ripen in a single season. Prune only in the dormant season, the safe time for any oak. It survives light fires and sprouts again from the base after a hot one. Acorn weevils spoil some acorns. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Quercus boyntonii](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501013) - [USDA Forest Service, Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America, FHTET-03-01, Stein, Binion and Acciavatti 2003](https://rngr.net/publications/field-guide-to-native-oak-species-of-eastern-north-america) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Quercus boyntonii](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUBO2) - [APGA and USDA Forest Service Tree Gene Conservation Partnership, 2020 Collecting Trip Report for Quercus boyntonii, Tracy Cook (Huntsville Botanical Garden) and Patrick Thompson (Auburn University Davis Arboretum), January 29, 2021](https://members.publicgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Quercus-boyntonii_HBG_2020-Final-Report_Public.pdf) - [International Oak Society 2023 Oak Conservation and Research Grant Report for Quercus boyntonii, Sarah Whitener, Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson, December 2024](https://www.internationaloaksociety.org/sites/default/files//pictures/OCandR_grants/IOS%202023%20Final%20Grant%20Report_HBG.pdf) - [APGA Tree Gene Conservation Partnership: Quercus boyntonii](https://members.publicgardens.org/tree_gene_conservati/quercus-boyntonii/) - [NatureServe Explorer: Quercus boyntonii](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152275/Quercus_boyntonii) - [Alabama Plant Atlas: Quercus boyntonii](http://floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=2154) - [Oaks of the World, Jean-Louis Hélardot: Quercus boyntonii](http://oaks.of.the.world.free.fr/quercus_boyntonii.htm) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Quercus chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Quercus.pdf) - [USDA PLANTS: Quercus boyntonii Beadle, QUBO2](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/QUBO2) - [USDA Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group: 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP code listing](https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Red oaks and white oaks, and where each belongs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/red-oaks-and-white-oaks/index.html.md) - [When oaks leaf out, and why two of them never agree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/when-oaks-leaf-out/index.html.md) - [Marcescence: why young beeches and oaks keep their dead leaves all winter](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/marcescence/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Boynton Oak, add ?species=boynton-oak with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=boynton-oak&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Boynton Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=boynton-oak): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=boynton-oak - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Boynton Oak is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=boynton-oak - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Boynton Oak needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=boynton-oak:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Boynton Oak flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.