{"id":20681,"date":"2023-01-10T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=20681"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:53:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:53:46","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-shingle-oak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-shingle-oak\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Shingle Oak"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.\"Drawing<\/a><\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a> exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we take a look at the ninth and final of our featured oak varieties in Indiana, the Shingle Oak or\u00a0Quercus imbricaria.<\/em><\/p>\n

The leaves of shingle oak are oblong and have entire leaf margins, without lobes or teeth, unlike all other Indiana oaks. This species also retains its shiny, bristle-tipped leaves further into the winter than other oaks. The leaves turn from a dark green in the summer to yellow and brown in the fall.<\/p>\n

The bark is dark gray and blocky, with long running ridges. Shingle oak tends to keep its lower dead limbs attached to the tree.<\/p>\n

The fruit is a small, rounded acorn with a thin cap that covers a third to half of the acorn. The acorns turn dark in color before losing their caps, although some may drop off the tree with their caps in tact.<\/p>\n

Shingle oaks, which grow to 50 to 60 feet tall and are found in moist, well-drained soil along streams and on hillsides, but can occasionally be found on dry sites. The natural range of the shingle oak is the midwestern United States, including the Appalachian mountain region, Ohio, and the central Mississippi River valley.<\/p>\n

The Morton Arboretum<\/a>\u00a0states that shingle oak is fairly salt tolerant and tolerant of black walnut\u00a0toxicity,\u00a0and despite the fact that it has a taproot, this species can be easier to transplant than some other oaks.<\/p>\n

Shingle oak, however, can be plagued with pests such as scale insects and two-lined chestnut borer. As with other oaks, the shingle oak should be pruned in the dormant season to avoid attracting beetles that may carry oak wilt, which can be a potential disease problem.<\/p>\n

Shingle oaks get their name, because traditionally the species was sectioned out and made into wood shingles.<\/p>\n