# Superior Specimen Lines

> Acorns and seedlings collected from named, proven parent trees.

Three lines grown from named parent trees chosen for size, form or hardiness: the [cherrybark oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cherrybark-oak/index.html.md) from a parent on Wye Island, Maryland, a select [swamp chestnut oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-chestnut-oak/index.html.md) and a select [American holly](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/index.html.md). Each seedling is seed-grown and genetically distinct: half its genes come from the chosen parent, so the line raises the odds of the parent's traits without promising them. Holly seedlings are male or female, so plant several for berries. All three are sold as saplings and the two oaks as acorns. The group covers USDA zones 5 to 9.

2 of 364 plants matching "quercus". Each plant links to its own Markdown page with the full facts, description and growing guide. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/specimens/?q=quercus

Columns: Zones are the USDA hardiness zones the plant takes, from the coldest to the warmest it is rated for (zone 2 is the coldest, 10 the warmest); Height is mature height in feet; Sun and Soil list every condition the plant takes; Grown from is what the nursery offers it as (saplings, or acorns, nuts or seed to sow); Price is the lowest price for sale, a plant size's first and a packet's apart, or Sold out for a priced plant with nothing for sale, or "ask" when the plant is not yet priced online (email captain@bluewhaletrees.com or join the waitlist on the web page).

This table accepts the shop's filters as query parameters on this address: size (shrub, small-tree, medium-tree, large-tree), sun (full, part, shade), moisture (dry, average, wet), zone (2 to 10), native (a state's two-letter code in capitals, such as PA: the plants native to that state by the USDA PLANTS records), want (a trait: flowers, fall-color, wildlife, honey, edible, evergreen, rare, drought, wet-tolerant, shade, early-bearing, screening, nitrogen-fixing, salt, winter-interest, street-tree, erosion-control; rare means uncommon in the wild or in nurseries, honey a nectar source for bees), as (acorns, seed, nuts, saplings) and q (a search word). Several values may be joined with commas.

| Plant | Botanical name | Group | Type | Height (ft) | Zones | Sun | Soil | Grown from | Price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Cherrybark Oak, Wye Island line](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cherrybark-oak/index.html.md) | *Quercus pagoda* | Superior Specimen Lines | Large tree | 80–120 | 6–9 | Full | Average, Wet | Saplings, Acorns | ask |
| [Swamp Chestnut Oak, select line](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-chestnut-oak/index.html.md) | *Quercus michauxii* | Superior Specimen Lines | Large tree | 60–90 | 5–9 | Full | Average, Wet | Saplings, Acorns | ask |