Is Oak Tree One of the Native Trees in Michigan?

With all the numerous types of trees that you can find in Michigan, it might actually confuse you what trees are native to Michigan and which are invasive. Moreover, this thing is actually a bigger deal to know for the people who love planting trees and landscaping. 

One example of this is the majestic, sturdy, and long-living oak tree. Aside from all the beautiful characteristic features of this type of tree, it is also important to know whether this type of tree is native to Michigan.

You can probably see this tree in some movies, and some even mention it in their books or novels.  The reason why this tree is famous is because of its many assets like having a very sturdy and thick bark, a very long lifespan of around 150 years, and the height that this tree can reach. In addition, yes, it is one of the trees that are native in the state of Michigan. In fact, there are several kinds of oak trees that you can find in Michigan. Here are some of them;

Black Oak

Despite its name, Black oaks are actually classified under the family of Red oak. Compared to the kinds of oak trees, the black oak is smaller with a height of about 80 feet. The leaves of this tree are dark green in color on the top surface, while having a brown-yellow color below. This tree has a medium-sized acorn that has some kind of a cover to the nut.

White Oak

White Oak is another kind of oak tree that you can found easily in the Lower and Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It has a bark that is light gray in color and can easily grow up to 100 feet in height. As said before, oak trees are long-living so don’t be surprised that White Oak trees can live up to 300 years.

In fact, there was some news before about a White Oak tree that lived approximately 600 years before dying. Some people use White Oak trees as ornamental trees and decorates them, but the wood of this tree can be used to make barrels, banjos, and even wooden weapons.

Bur Oak

Just like any other oak tree native to Michigan, Bur Oak trees can easily reach a height of 100 feet. There are even many Bur Oak trees that reportedly reach 160 feet in height. Most of the time, Bur Oak trees can only have a lifespan of 200-300 years, but it is still likely that they can live up to 400 years.

However, this is a slow-growing type of oak tree. The acorns of this tree are the largest that you can find when you compare it to the other kinds of an oak tree.

Pin Oak

The Pin Oak, which is also known as the Swamp Spanish Oak, is probably one of the smallest oak trees in terms of its height. Usually, it just grows around 60-70 feet in height. Moreover, they are also not that long-living when you compare them to the oak trees mentioned above.

Their lifespan is just around 120 years, but they are still well-known trees in the field of landscaping because of their great pollution tolerance.

Those oak trees mentioned above are just some of the kinds of oak trees that you can find in Michigan, and the list still goes on. In fact, you can still find out many interesting facts about what trees are native to Michigan and how you can identify them.

Interestingly, there are forests almost everywhere in Michigan, which doesn’t just make it beautiful, but also highly beneficial for our environment.