Chinkapin Oak
Quercus muehlenbergii

ECOLOGY
Flowers in spring with inconspicuous, wind-pollinated flowers. Acorns ripen in fall. Oaks are wildlife keystone species hosting a mind-boggling number of insects. This brings in a vast array of substrate-insectivorous birds (birds that spend their time on these trees eating the insects). The acorns are important food for many birds and mammals (and some species eaten by people). The trees also provide important habitat for many birds and mammals. Almost all the oaks host a multitude of moths and butterflies including the following species:

Mexican-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius moctezuma)

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia)

Short-tailed Skipper (Zestusa dorus)

Arizona Dull Firetip (Apyrrothrix araxes ssp. arizonae)

Burgess’s Sleepy Duskywing (Erynnis brizo ssp. burgessi)

Clitus Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis ssp. clitus)

Meridian duskywing (Erynnis meridianus ssp. meridianus)

Scudder's Duskywing (Erynnis scudderi)

Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis)

Oaks also host a diversity of insects that cause growths called “galls”. Galls are protective nests for the larvae of various insects (mostly tiny stingless wasps) to develop protected from pests. The have a diversity of shapes from giant ball-like growths, to small growths, on leaves or young stems. These galls do not harm healthy trees. Emory oaks that grow in riparian zones and get really tall are a favorite nesting site for owls and other raptors.

Oaks attract numerous other insects which, in turn, attracts canopy-gleaning birds.

ETHNOBOTANY
Acorns (nuts) are edible after tannins are leached or boiled out. Gather nuts during the fall from September to October. Only gather the ripe tan-to-brown acorns, rather than the unripe green ones. remove bitterness, shell the brown, ripe acorns and remove any corky skin layers, dice the meat, and boil the chunks in water from 15 to 30 minutes until the water turns brown. Then pour off the water and repeat the process until the water clears, indicating that the tannic acid has been removed.

NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Found on limestone and calcareous soils in mixed deciduous and pine forests from eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States.

TAXONOMY AND NAME
This plant is in the family Fagaceae, the beech family. There are 627 accepted species in the genus Quercus widely distributed in the northern hemisphere.
The genus "Quercus" is from Latin, meaning "oak". The tree's scientific name honors Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753–1815), a Lutheran pastor and amateur botanist in Pennsylvania. The common name refers to the resemblance of the foliage to chinkapins (Castanea).