The leaves of Quercus macrocarpa are simple, alternate and lobed. It can be distinguished from the other oaks by the blunt lobes, most leaves with a single pair of deep sinuses, corky ridges on the branches, and the fringe along the margin of the acorns. Click here to compare the leaves of our 6 commonest species of oaks (but be warned that there is considerable variation in each species).

Quercus macrocarpa ranges from Manitoba to Texas, east through Tennesee and West Virginia to Maine and Quebec (absent from the Atlantic coastal states). It is common and distinctive in southern Wisconsin, and is found to a lesser extent throughout the state, although it is apparently absent in Door County, or nearly so. Habitat is most often drier sites, and it is well known for tolerance to fire, but it is sometimes also found on moist sites.