Habitat: Unlike other oaks, the chinkapin oak tolerates heavy clay and alkaline soils but in Iowa it is mostly found on the well-drained, calcareous soils of dry bluffs, ridges and rocky, south-facing slopes. It is hardy in zones 5 to 7.
Diseases: It is not troubled by any particularly serious pests or diseases in Iowa.
Distribution: This species is native in Iowa south and east of a line from the Loess Hills in Mills County northeastward to Winneshiek County. Native to North America from Ontario west to Minnesota and Nebraska, south to Delaware, Texas and western Florida, the chinkapin oak is not, however, common anywhere in its natural range.
