This Florida Native's tree has leaved that are deciduous but kept on with a reddish-orange color well throughout the winter. with 3 to 7 pointy tips that resemble a turkey foot. Can be grown in moist but well drained to dry, sandy soils and trained into a small tree or as a compact shrub in full sun and with little to no dry water once established.
How to care for Turkey Oak
Light. Full sun. In shade it tends to stay shrubby.
Water. Water regularly while it establishes. After that it is drought tolerant and needs little care.
Soil and feeding. It grows in dry, sandy soil, slightly acidic to alkaline. It has no tolerance for salt spray.
Size. Usually 20–40 ft tall and 10–15 ft wide. Trees tend to stay smaller toward the southern end of the range.
Problems to watch. It sprouts from underground runners, so avoid spots where suckers would be a nuisance. Once a taproot forms it is hard to transplant, so choose its spot carefully.
Good to know. A Florida native with red fall color and high wind resistance. Acorns feed deer, wild turkeys and squirrels. Like all oaks, it sheds heavy, allergenic pollen.
Sources: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Turkey Oak · UF/IFAS Ask IFAS (EDIS): FR312 Quercus laevis, Turkey Oak · Florida Native Plant Society Plant Database: Quercus laevis
