Bur Oak Flowers (Quercus macrocarpa)
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Chokecherry Flowers. Photo by Peter M. Dzuik.
Northern Red Oak Flowers
The bur oak (also called the“mossycap oak” due to its bristly acorn caps) is the most widespread oak in Minnesota. Male flowers grow in hanging green clumps called catkins. Female flowers, also green, grow on short, stubby stalks at the base of each leaf. Flowers bloom at the same time as the leaves begin to develop in early spring and are pollinated by wind. In the Arboretum, look for bur oaks in the upland forest and oak savannas.