Wonderful Tree

---

By George Ayres
Texas Department of Agriculture
March 2010

Blue oak, canyon oak, mountain oak, smoky oak, rock oak ... all different names for the same great Texas tree! Official name ... (drum roll, please) ... Lacey Oak!

Regardless of the name, this plant has much to offer as a landscape plant in its native Texas. Named for Howard Lacey, who first collected specimens on his property near Kerrville, the Lacey Oak is a beautiful small oak, native to the Texas Hill Country. With its spreading canopy of attractive bluish-green foliage, it provides a nice habitat for wildlife. Its high heat tolerance and resistance to drought, alkaline soil and pests put the Lacey Oak in the esteemedTexas Superstar® category, a distinction awarded by Texas AgriLife Research and Extension, part of the Texas A&M system. The Lacey Oak is a super-performing plant under Texas growing conditions.

It grows wild on the thin, hard limestone escarpments of the Edwards Plateau in central Texas. Its leaves are peach-colored when they emerge in the spring, then turn a dusky-blue to blue-gray in the summer. The Lacey Oak makes wonderful shade trees for small yards. The largest known Lacey Oak grows in Blanco County.

Exposure: full sun
Height: 25 feet
Plant type: deciduous tree
Planting time: fall and spring
Soil type: will survive in well-drained clay soils and grows best in well-drained limestone soils
Suggested uses: xeriscapes or low water-use landscapes are perfect conditions for growing Lacey Oak. Works best as a shade tree in a small to medium landscape
Special notes: Best adapted to the western two-thirds of the state. Do not water too frequently.