The species name of swamp white oak(bicolor) refers to the two-tone appearance of the leaves - the upper side is dark green and glossy while the underside is whitish and fuzzy. Acorns ripen annually in the fall. Leaves usually turn yellow in the fall, but there is a fair amount of variability. Swamp white oak is native to Illinois and in the wild is found growing on moist sites, but it is adaptable to urban environments and can be used as a street tree where space permits.

The genus Quercus includes more than 600 species of the oak tree, of which 90 are native to North America; the Chicago Botanic Garden's collection contains more than 60 varieties and over 1,000 individual trees. Twenty oak species are native to Illinois.

Oaks are slow growing, long lived, hard wood trees that produce fruit we all know as acorns. Within the white oak group, acorns mature annually; in the red oak group, acorns take two years to mature (biennial). Oaks are often imposing shade trees at maturity and provide habitat and food for a variety of wildlife.