16 Types of Oak Trees That Can Grow in Florida

If you are thinking of planting an oak tree in Florida, you may be surprised to learn that there are many different types of oaks that can survive quite well in the sunshine state. But picking the right type of oak is important when planning out your home landscaping or garden space. In this article, we look at several different types of Oak Trees that will grow well in Florida.

Oak Tree in a grass field

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Oak trees are hardwood trees and vary significantly in color, size, and shape. If you’re thinking of planting one near your home or in your garden, it’s important to do your research. Some oaks can grow well over one hundred feet tall, and many can live for several centuries! That means planting an oak tree is a long-term commitment in most cases.

In general, oak trees are a good choice for Florida landscapes. With only a few exceptions, they can resist hurricane-strength winds. Many of them provide gorgeous, showy color in the fall season and attract a wonderful mix of wildlife.

In this comprehensive guide to Florida oak trees, you’ll learn about some of our favorite varieties. Whether you want a shorter, denser tree that will fit in your backyard garden or hope to grow a stunning specimen over one hundred feet tall, there’s an oak tree on this list that should suit your needs.  

Blue Japanese

tree with little green olive shaped fruit on it
This particular species doesn’t resemble the typical oak tree and won’t get as big.
Scientific name: Quercus glauca

At first glance, blue Japanese oak trees hardly resemble the rest of their family. This type of oak is relatively short, growing to between 25 and 40 feet tall. And their canopy is dense, rather than open, like many larger oaks.

Blue Japanese oak trees get their name from their purple-tinted leaves that change to a shiny green as they age. As an evergreen oak, these trees don’t put on a fall show, nor do they attract wildlife.

They grow in USDA zones 8A-9B, which includes most of Florida. They thrive in full sun conditions and areas with acidic, well-drained soil.

Bluejack

dark green skinny leaves and arcons on tree branch
The Bluejack Oak doesn’t have an invasive root system and will do well with little water.
Scientific name: Quercus incana

Bluejack oaks are a great oak tree for Florida gardens and other areas. This species is considered small-statured and shrublike. Though they grow up to 55 feet tall, they don’t have running roots and won’t take over a space like other oaks tend to.

Bluejack oaks get their name from their long and narrow blue-green leaves. The leaves feature smooth edges, a pointed tip, and fuzz-covered silvery undersides. Against their dark-gray to black bark that’s carved with deep grooves, bluejack leaves are stunning, and many landscapers favor them.

These trees do best in the sandy soils of Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma. They prefer full sun and are well-adapted to drought and wildfires.

Bluff

large tree in the middle of an open field
The Bluff Oak has a beautiful canopy making it good to plant along the street or walkways.
Scientific name: Quercus austrina

Bluff oaks are a favorite amongst landscapers because of their uniform, upright branches that don’t droop low to the ground. In front yards, along streets and sidewalks, they provide easy walking clearance, and pruning isn’t hard.

These Florida oak trees can grow up to 60 feet tall and have a 50-foot spread. That said, many are closer to 40 feet tall and 35 feet wide. They grow moderately fast, and their ovular canopies provide plenty of shade. With dark green leaves and scaly-white bark, they’re also gorgeous in most landscapes.

These oaks don’t change color before dropping their leaves, prefer slightly acidic soil with good drainage, and grow best in USDA zones 8A-9B. This means this tree is hardy in all of Florida except for the southern tip.

Bur

green acorns with spikes in it and green leaves
The Bur Oak is a beautiful tree but can be messy and will require more maintenance.
Scientific name: Quercus macrocarpa

Bur oaks are one of the more picturesque species of Florida oak trees. They grow between 70 and 90 feet tall and often feature thick trunks, up to seven feet in diameter. Their crowns are uniform and round, and their long, lobed leaves put on a stunning fall display. The leaves shift from green to shades of red and copper before dropping.

Unfortunately, their acorns are filled with tannin and covered with a furry, bur-like cap. They fall away with the leaves and together make a huge mess on sidewalks and lawns. That said, the roots on Bur Oaks grow downward and tend not to lift nearby pavement as they extend.

Chinkapin

large green saw shaped leaves
These shady trees grow acorns that will attract different animals and foragers to your yard.
Scientific name: Quercus muehlenbergii

Chinkapin oaks are sometimes called chestnut oaks because of their large and easy-to-shell acorns that attract all sorts of mammalian foragers, including humans. These large oak trees can grow up to 90 feet tall but usually only reach about 50 feet tall when cultivated. Their canopy tends to spread an equal distance, providing plenty of shade.

Initially, Chinkapin oaks grow moderately fast but tend to slow as they age. Every fall, their yellow-green leaves will turn to shades of red and gold before dropping to the ground. Though they prefer full sun and well-drained soil, they can survive in wet areas and do well in USDA zones 3A-7B.

Darlington

tree branch with long green leaf clusters
This oak species has a shorter lifespan but grows quickly.
Scientific name: Quercus hemisphaerica

Sometimes oak lovers mistakenly call the Darlington oak a laurel oak. That’s because arborists once thought they were the same species. However, Darlington oaks like drier environments in Florida, Virginia, and Texas. They also have long, thin, leathery leaves that differ from laurel oak trees.

Darlingtons have a short lifespan for an oak tree, only living for 50 to 90 years. However, they grow fast and can easily reach 100 feet tall when they mature. They have striking gray bark that starts smooth but grows as the tree gets older.

Laurel

long skinny green leaves growing on tree branch
This tree will do well in the wetter climates and don’t get as big as some of the other oak trees.
Scientific name: Quercus laurifolia

At up to 60 feet tall with a dense, spreading canopy laurel oaks are a favorite for creating shade in yards and parks. Their trunks reach up to four feet wide, so they’re not exactly small trees, though they don’t tower like other Florida oak trees.

Laurels are wet-site tolerant and act as evergreens in much of Florida, though further north, they’re deciduous. There, their smooth, ovular, and shiny green leaves turn yellow and red in fall and winter.

Overcup

large trees lining street
The Overcup Oak can grow up to an impressive 100 feet and is typically seen lining the roadside.
Scientific Name: Quercus lyrata

Overcup oaks are mighty trees that grow up to 100 feet tall and 40 feet wide. Their round silhouettes and thick branches are complemented by whimsical, twisting trunks. They’re a favorite oak tree in Florida for growing near streets because their branches don’t droop.

However, their lobed green leaves turn brown before dropping each fall. At the same time, they’ll fruit and drop acorns which are a favorite for wild hogs, deer, and other mammals. This creates a lot of litter on sidewalks.

Overcup oaks are prevalent in the Florida panhandle region, but they aren’t suitable outside USDA zones 5A to 9A.

Post

huge tree with gold and yellow leaves covering it
These oaks are on the smaller side and prefer well-drained soil.
Scientific name: Quercus stellata

Post oaks are small for Florida oak trees, standing 40 to 50 feet tall with a 35 to 50-foot spread. They have a dense but irregular canopy with gnarled, twisting branches and deeply lobed leaves. Though deciduous, their fall colors are unreliable. Sometimes they’ll turn a striking copper and gold before dropping their leaves, but such a showing is rare.

Post oaks prefer well-drained, alkaline soil and grow well in non-fertile areas within USDA zones 6A to 9A.

Shumard

tree branch with yellow leaves covering it
This particular oak tree turns orange and red in the fall and is known to put on quite a show.
Scientific name: Quercus shumardii

Shumard oaks grow up to 80 feet tall but have a relatively narrow spread of 40 to 50 feet. Their canopy is open, and they don’t produce as much shade as other Florida oak trees. However, their dark green leaves turn vivid orange and red each fall, creating a stunning show.

Shumard oaks do well in USDA zones 5B through 9B but require full sun and well-drained soil to reach their epic lifespan of up to 480 years!

Southern Live

large old tree with moss hanging off of it
This whimsical oak tree is one of the most popular picturesque oaks you’ll find in the south.
Scientific name: Quercus virginiana

When you envision an old southern oak tree, you probably picture the southern live oak. This iconic tree features a curving trunk up to 6 feet wide. It has broad, twisting branches that stretch up to 80 feet high and are usually dripping in Spanish moss.

Evergreen leaves and a gorgeous red-brown trunk that turns gray with age make this tree a stunning sight in USDA zones 8B through 10B. It likes full sun but can handle partial shade and grows in both dry and wet areas.

Southern Red

long shaped light green leaves on tree branch
This oak tree has a beautiful canopy and will turn a golden red and brown in the fall.
Scientific name: Quercus falcata

The southern red oak is sometimes referred to as a Spanish oak tree. It grows up to 80 feet tall and has an open canopy that spreads up to 70 feet wide. This tree puts on quite a show during the fall as its leaves turn from shiny green to golden red and brown.

Southern red oaks feature dark bark that’s almost black, like a cherry tree. They prefer full sun and grow well in USDA zones 6A through 9B, making them ideal oak trees in Florida gardens.

Swamp White

bright green leaves on a mossy branch
This tree gets its name for being able to withstand areas that tend to flood.
Scientific name: Quercus bicolor

Swamp white oaks earn their name by handling flooded areas well, though this tree prefers well-drained soil in sunny spaces. It grows well in the panhandle area of Florida (USDA zones 4A through 8B).

Swamp white oaks feature broad, open canopies that create dense shade. They stand up to 70 feet tall and can be equally wide. They have large green leaves with fuzzy undersides. In the fall, the leaves will turn yellow or red and drop. Swamp white oaks also produce acorns that wildlife loves.

Water

green bell shaped leaves on a tree branch
These trees do well in areas with less water and will still reach a height of 70 feet or so.
Scientific name: Quercus nigra

Counterintuitively, water oaks don’t need much water to survive. These highly drought-tolerant trees grow easily in USDA zones 6A through 10A. They feature a spreading canopy that produces lots of acorn fruits in the fall. Unfortunately, their acorns are full of tannins and tend to stain sidewalks.

Their staining capabilities and drooping branches that tend to break make them a better pick for large open spaces than suburban or city streets. They can grow up to 80 feet tall, and their spread is almost as wide as 70 feet.

Though it’s unreliable, they can put on a yellow show for about a week in early fall. However, more often than not, they act as evergreens.

White

leaves turning from green to yellow hanging from tree branch
These trees do best out in the open and tend to live for centuries.
Scientific name: Quercus alba

You can find the slow-growing white oak across Florida’s panhandle, in USDA zones 3B through 9B. These massive Florida oak trees grow up to 100 feet tall, and their canopies can spread up to 80 feet. However, they live for centuries, and it takes them a long time to reach their full size.

With a trunk that’s up to six feet wide and roots that are prone to lifting pavement, white oaks do best in wide-open spaces.

These trees probably earn their name thanks to their scaly, white bark. As the tree ages, the bark will smooth in spots. White oaks also have greenish-white undersides to their leaves. The tops of the leaves, though, are dark blue-green.

Every so often, white oaks will turn red in the fall, but this process is unreliable and won’t happen every year. When it does, expect them to drop their massive leaves, which can grow up to eight inches long, along with plenty of acorns.

Willow

long yellow leaves hanging from branch
This tree is often mistaken for a willow tree with its long leaves and flowing branches.
Scientific name: Quercus phellos

Thanks to their shady canopies, willow oaks are popular in parks throughout the south. They grow up to 70 feet tall and spread up to 50 feet wide. Though their canopies start out narrow and pyramid-like, they’ll fill out as they age. By the time a willow oak is mature, it usually has a symmetrical, round canopy.

Willow oaks earn their name from their willow-like leaves. Long, light green, and oblong, the leaves are strikingly similar to a willow tree. However, unlike willow trees, willow oaks will turn color in the fall, dropping yellow leaves and acorns all over nearby sidewalks.

These Florida oak trees like plenty of moisture when they’re young and do well next to marshes and streams. As they age, they become remarkably drought-tolerant. They grow in USDA zones 5A through 9B, which includes almost all of Florida.

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