Blackjack?

[isassi]

Around my part of Oklahoma, we have an abundance of timber, referred to as Blackjack, and I have heard some guys call it post oak. Anyone know the correct name and if it has value as sawn lumber? All anyone here does with it is firewood, but I noticed today driving by a patch of timber how tall and straight the logs are. When these blackjacks get really large, they go down in storms and seam disease prone. Any ideas? 

[beenthere]

And in some places Blackjack is young ponderosa pine.  The name Blackjack seems to be a catch-all, but locally will probably have a pretty specific meaning.
Do you have access to a tree identification field book?  Maybe when the leaves are out and developed, you can pin it down.

[jon12345]

It could be Quercus marilandica also known as the blackjack oak, jack oak, barren oak or black oak. Inhabits United States everywhere east of the rocky mtns.

[SwampDonkey]

Black oak is Quercus velutina and has a wider range. Blackjack oak is not a New England native. Leaves of blackjack oak are like webbed ducks feet (3-lobed). It is commonly found with black oak and most commonly on poor soils in the SW, poorly formed tree. However, black oak leaf shapes are similar to scarlet and red oak because they are variable.

[isassi]

Sounds right..I have to look again, but i think the leaves are 3 lobed...puts off acorns...any thought to milling it? 

[SwampDonkey]

Sounds right..I have to look again, but i think the leaves are 3 lobed...puts off acorns...any thought to milling it? 

Heck man, I've seen staghorn sumac sliced up here, so go for it.

[Pullinchips]

no idea what your trees look like but around sc they (blackjack oaks(querqus marilandica)) tend to be poor formed and very very limby, they do not self prune well and will hold onto dead limbs for years.  if you choose to mill it may have many small loose knots.  Small ones because most branches tend to remain small then die.

-nate

[populus]

Blackjack oak, Q. marilandica, is a commercial species, but often small and poorly formed. The wood is incredibly dense and it is hard to saw, was formerly used for charcoal, railroad ties and for tannin. If you can find large enough blackjack oak, there is a market for it  We have 200-year-old blackjacks on hilltops in Kentucky that are 4 inches diameter, but I have seen better quality trees around cedar glades.

Common names can be confusing, and I have some old references that use the term blackjack oak or blackjack for black oak, Q. velutina, and for post oak, Q. stellata. These are both important commercial species, and are both found in your area. Post oak would be lumped with white oak in the wood industry, and black oak is a red oak.

I'm with Swamp Donkey - saw some up and see what you get. 

[isassi]

I wasn't thinking about marketability, but rather if it would work for the rustic beams, stair stringers, treads, posts in the new house I have to build to stay married . I think Pullinchips hit it right due to they hold dead limbs, ect. The ones around here, if not in a dense growth, tend to grow up pretty straight and look to be 2 ft in diameter or better. Hard sawing won't be a problem with the meadows...but I will go fell one if there are not some down in the timber piles I am clearing of walnut right now....more later.