Like most oaks, the leaves are highly variable with leaves in the upper parts of the tree generally being more finely divided. Shade tree.

There are two color morphs: green and silver. Silver is associated with the east coast, but may occur anywhere within the range.  It is typically larger and faster growing than the green morph. Saw palmetto is exceedingly important to the fire ecology of Florida. Keeping saw palmetto dominated woodlands burned is essential both for ecology and safety. Overgrown saw palmetto thickets are severe fire hazards associated with catastrophic firestorms during dry windy weather. Tall palmetto understories can carry fires into the overstory and kill mature trees (Sackett 1975; Hough and Albini 1978. exerpted from Duever, 2011). Saw palmetto is frequently clonal.  A clone is a group of plants that are genetically identical as it is formed by the spreading of underground stems which produce new visible genetic "twins" called ramets.   For saw palmetto, the group of  individuals that make of the clone may continue to spread for thousands of years, though the underground connections break with time.  Clones can become quite large, and it takes genetic studies to definitively map an idividual clone.  One such study found that in a 20x20m (approximately 66x66ft) study plot, based on modeled rates of spread, the oldest of their clones was likely over 5,500 years old.  The researchers concluded that other clones (not studied) might exceed 10,000 years in age.  Individual plants  do not live to such ripe old ages, and individual plants can grow fairly quickly (Takahashi, et al. 2011). Adaptive to many landscape uses: specimen plant, mass plantings, naturalistic settings.

Shade tree. While native to moist sites, this oak does well in moderately dry areas as well. Makes a good street tree and can be used in parking lot islands. Bronzy fall color.