# Chapman Oak (Quercus chapmanii)

> A small white oak of the southern coast with glossy leaves that turn red and yellow into winter, and acorns low in tannin.

Also called Chapman white oak, Chapman's oak. Category: Rare & Uncommon Oaks. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chapman-oak/

![Chapman oak (Quercus chapmanii) glossy, round-tipped leaves on a branch, a few turning yellow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/chapman-oak-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Bruce Kirchoff, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_chapmanii_%2823507530584%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 10 to 25 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens and the coast
- Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Drought tolerant, Wildlife value, Salt tolerant, Fall color, Winter interest
- 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

Chapman oak belongs to the Florida scrub, the dry country of sand ridges and dunes near the coast. It carries the name of Alvan Chapman, a physician and botanist of Apalachicola, Florida, who first distinguished it in his Flora of the Southern United States. In the wild it often grows as a low shrub spreading from underground stems, but it can make a small, round-topped tree. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in South Carolina and imperiled in Georgia. Try it as a low screen on coastal sand, or let it stand alone as a small specimen tree.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Chapman oak grows slowly, so our growth estimator gives it about a foot a year. In a garden expect 10 to 25 feet, and it can grow as wide as it is tall. Wild plants are mostly shrubs of 2 to 10 feet, sometimes 20, and trees reach 45 feet.

It flowers from March to May, and as in every white oak the acorns ripen the same year, in the fall. They are five eighths to three quarters of an inch long, a third to half hidden in a gray cup. Florida scrub-jays favor them because they are low in tannin, and deer, wild turkeys, raccoons and squirrels eat them too.

It grows wild near the coast from southern South Carolina to Florida and southern Alabama. It is most abundant along Florida's west coast, from Tampa Bay to Panama City.

## How to grow Chapman Oak

Chapman oak wants full sun and a deep, well-drained sand, acid and poor. It needs no watering once rooted and takes salty wind near the coast, but not salt water over its roots. Set trees 15 feet apart, and keep each one 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet or more from 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 deep enough for the taproot. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the sand back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. White oak acorns sprout soon after they fall. Sow them on arrival, an inch deep, under hardware cloth.

Water every week or two through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Deer browse young oaks, so guard each sapling with a tube or cage for its first two years. Let it keep several stems for a screen, or train one leader for a small tree.

The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby. As a white oak it ripens its acorns in a single season, and it bears them every year.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Quercus chapmanii](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501016)
- [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 chapmanii](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUCH)
- [UF/IFAS Extension, FOR 243: Quercus chapmanii, Chapman Oak](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR305)
- [Florida Native Plant Society Plant Database: Quercus chapmanii](https://www.fnps.org/plant/quercus-chapmanii)
- [The Institute for Regional Conservation, Natives for Your Neighborhood: Chapman's oak](https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Querchap)
- [UF/IFAS Florida 4-H Forest Ecology: Chapman Oak](https://florida4h.ifas.ufl.edu/florida-4-h-forest-ecology/forest-ecology-contest/contest-stations/forest-ecosystems/sand-pine-scrub/chapman-oak/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Quercus chapmanii](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.130159/Quercus_chapmanii)
- [Oaks of the World, Jean-Louis Hélardot: Quercus chapmanii](http://oaks.of.the.world.free.fr/quercus_chapmanii.htm)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Quercus chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/q/at_download/file)

## 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 Chapman Oak, add ?species=chapman-oak with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=chapman-oak&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Chapman Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=chapman-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=chapman-oak
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Chapman 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=chapman-oak
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Chapman 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=chapman-oak:2
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Chapman Oak flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.