# Myrtle Oak (Quercus myrtifolia)

> An evergreen oak of the southern coastal scrub, with small, glossy leaves the year round, that takes dry sand, salt wind and drought.

Also called myrtle-leaf oak. Category: Rare & Uncommon Oaks. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/myrtle-oak/

![Myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia) glossy evergreen leaves around a twig bearing acorns in their cups](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/myrtle-oak-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Bruce Kirchoff, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_myrtifolia_%2824055594212%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 15 to 40 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens and the coast
- Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Dry
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Evergreen, Rare, Drought tolerant, Salt tolerant, Wildlife value, Winter interest, Erosion control
- 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

Myrtle oak is an evergreen member of the red oak group, a shrub or small tree that spreads by underground runners into thickets. Its name means myrtle-leaved, and the stiff, leathery leaves are rolled under at the edge. It is one of the three scrub oaks characteristic of the Florida scrub, and it is common there. It is scarce at the edges of its range, and NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in South Carolina. Thickets of it steady beach dunes and help them survive strong storms. Plant it at the back of a dry, sandy border, or in a coastal planting behind the dunes.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Myrtle oak grows slowly, so our growth estimator gives it about a foot a year. Expect 15 to 20 feet or more in a garden, with a crown 8 to 10 feet wide. At its largest it reaches about 40 feet, though in the wild it is most often a shrub. A tree raised from seed bore its first acorns at 9 years.

It flowers from March to May, and the acorns take two seasons, ripening in August and September of the following year. The acorns are nearly round and up to half an inch long. They are an important food for wildlife.

It grows wild on the coastal plain from South Carolina through Florida to Mississippi. Its home is dunes, hammocks, sandhills, dry ridges and oak scrub. It is most abundant on the islands off Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where it covers wide areas in low thickets.

## How to grow Myrtle Oak

Myrtle oak wants full sun or light shade and a sandy soil that drains fast, on the acid side. Once rooted it rides out drought and salt wind, but waterlogged ground kills it. Set trees 10 feet apart for a thicket, and keep each one 15 feet from a wall and at least 15 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in the cool months, from late fall to early spring, 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. Drop acorns in water before sowing, and discard any that float. Red oak acorns need a winter before they sprout. Sow them in fall under hardware cloth, as deep as the acorn is wide. For spring, hold them damp in the refrigerator for four to twelve weeks first. In a mild southern winter the chill may fall short, and fall-sown acorns then come up slowly and unevenly.

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 three years. After a fire it sprouts again from the roots.

The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby. As a red oak it can catch oak wilt where that disease occurs, so prune only in winter, to avoid the beetles that spread it. In the wild it crosses with other red oaks, among them water, laurel and blackjack oaks.

## Sources

- [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)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Quercus myrtifolia](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501066)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Quercus myrtifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/quercus-myrtifolia/)
- [UF/IFAS Extension, SGEB-75-22/SG183, Myrtle Oak, Quercus myrtifolia (Miller, Thetford, Verlinde and Campbell)](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/SG183)
- [UF/IFAS Extension, FOR305/FR373, Common Woody Plants of Florida Scrub Ecosystems (Proenza and Andreu)](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR373)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Quercus myrtifolia](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUMY)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online, International Dendrology Society: Quercus myrtifolia](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-myrtifolia/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Quercus myrtifolia](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151806/Quercus_myrtifolia)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Quercus chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Quercus.pdf)

## 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)
- [Native trees and shrubs for dry, sandy soil: the plants of barrens and dunes, and how to grow them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-and-shrubs-for-dry-sandy-soil/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)

## Related

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