Bur Oak

Notes:

Bur oak wood is used for cabinetry, barrels, hardwood flooring, and fence posts. Main sources of trees for timber are Iowa and Illinois bottomlands. The wood is sometimes marketed as ëwhite oak.í Native Americans made a bark decoction with astringent properties used to treat diarrhea, wounds and sores, hemorrhoids, poison oak, and insect bites. The large, sweet acorns have been eaten boiled and raw. The acorns are eaten by many birds and mammals, including squirrels, rabbits, ground squirrels, mice, deer, wood ducks, and blue jays. They are dispersed by rodents and blue jays, which frequently cache the acorns for later use. The foliage is eaten by deer and cattle. Red-tailed hawks, screech owls, fox squirrels, and flying squirrels nest in large trees of bur oak.