# Tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus)

> Tanoak, Notholithocarpus densiflorus: its height and zones, when it flowers and fruits, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/tanoak/

![Tanoak leaves with upright, fuzzy cream catkins at the tip of a shoot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/tanoak-1000.jpg?v=c53a6d27 "Tanoak leaves and catkins at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, California, on July 3, 2026. It can live up to 400 years.")
*Photo: Awinch1001, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANotholithocarpus_densiflorus_catkins_Pfeiffer_Big_Sur_State_Park_2.jpg))*

Large tree, 20 to 80 feet where planted, zones 7 to 10; full sun, part shade or shade; average ground.

We do not grow tanoak, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Tanoak |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Tanbark oak |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 20 to 80 where planted; up to 208 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 7 to 10 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, erosion control |
| Flowers | April to October |
| Fruit | Acorns, September to November |
| First crop | 30 to 40 years (abundant crops; sprouts bear from 5) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 80 to 300 years and can live up to 400. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, the forest understory, rocky ground and stream banks |
| Native in | 2 states |

Tanoak is native in 2 states: [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA) and [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and Silvics of North America.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=tanoak&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=tanoak): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=tanoak): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground and stream banks in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of tanoak in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=tanoak)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, the Wildflower Center, Calscape, the Jepson eFlora and NC State Extension.