Chinquapin Oak Tree, 3–7 ft

Chinquapin oak is the oak for limestone. Where a live oak goes chlorotic and a red oak sulks, this one roots into high-pH caliche and grows fast for an oak. The acorns are sweet and low-tannin, which is why deer and turkey clean them up in a week. A true Texas native, the best native alternative to sawtooth for a food plot, and the competition sells exactly zero of them.

What actually ships

• 3-Gallon: 3 to 5 ft tall, 1/2 to 3/4 in caliper, container-grown, single leader
• 7-Gallon: 5 to 7 ft tall, 3/4 to 1-1/4 in caliper, container-grown
• Root form: Container-grown, root ball intact. Oaks resent bare-root handling and we do not ship them that way
• Shipped as: Upright in a corrugated carton, soil bagged at the collar
• Acorn timeline: First crops typically 8 to 12 years. Slower to mast than sawtooth, which is the honest tradeoff for planting a native

Mature size

• Height: 50 to 70 ft
• Spread: 50 to 60 ft
• Growth rate: Moderate to fast for a white oak, 1.5 to 2.5 ft per year
• Leaf: Chestnut-like, coarsely toothed, glossy above

Where it grows

• USDA zones: 5 to 9
• Texas planting window: October 15 to February 28
• Native status: True Texas native. Quercus muehlenbergii is native from the Edwards Plateau through North and East Texas
• Soil: Built for limestone and caliche. pH 7.5 to 8.2 is fine
• Sun: Full sun
• Water: Low once established

Texas care notes

• Oak wilt: Do not prune between February 1 and June 30. Oak wilt is moved by sap beetles in spring. Paint every wound within 30 minutes, any time of year
• Spacing: 40 to 50 ft
• Browse protection: Cage it. Deer browse chinquapin hard in the first three years

Ship window and your cancellation right

Field-grown Texas stock ships during the dormant season. Orders ship between October 15 and December 15, 2026, oldest order first. That is deliberate: Texas Arbor Day is the first Friday in November (November 6, 2026) because fall is when a tree should go in the ground here.

If we cannot ship inside that window we will email you before it closes with a revised date and a one-click cancel link. If the new date is 30 days or less past the original, you can wait or cancel, your choice. If we need more than 30 days, your order is cancelled and refunded automatically unless you tell us to hold it. Refunds go back to your original card within 7 business days. This is the FTC Mail Order Rule (16 CFR Part 435) and we would rather you use it than be surprised.

The spec is the promise

Measure your tree against the "What actually ships" numbers above on the day it arrives. If it misses the spec, photograph it and we refund you in full and you keep the tree. We are not going to send you a stick and a photograph of somebody else's oak.

About this image: our product photography is an illustrative rendering of a mature, well-grown specimen of this species. It is not a photograph of the individual plant you will receive. The written "What actually ships" spec above is the binding description of your tree.