Trees and Shrubs Online logo

Quercus × benderi Baen.

TSO logo

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
The Trees and Shrubs Online Oak Consortium

The International Dendrology Society, The Wynkcoombe Arboretum, and several private individuals

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus × benderi' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-x-benderi/). Accessed 2026-10-15.

Family

  • Fagaceae

Genus

  • Quercus
  • Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae
    Q. coccinea × Q. rubra

Common Names

  • Bender Oak
  • Bender's Oak

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

dbh
Diameter (of trunk) at breast height. Breast height is defined as 4.5 feet (1.37 m) above the ground.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus × benderi' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-x-benderi/). Accessed 2026-10-15.

Quercus × benderi

Trunk of an old Quercus × benderi at Kew, UK, in August 2021. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

This hybrid makes a large tree with leaves generally intermediate in various ways between the parents. They are often larger than those of Q. coccinea and more deeply lobed than those of Q. rubra. They also show the influence of Q. rubra in the less glossy leaf surfaces, with the lower leaf surface matt-green or slightly bluish. (Pers. obs. AJC).

Distribution  United States Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia

Habitat Mixed deciduous woods where the parents occur together.

USDA Hardiness Zone 3-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H7

Several oaks in the UK have been identified as this hybrid. Of three trees at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, originally grown as Q. coccinea, the two larger were 25 m tall × 64 cm dbh and 23.8 m × 59 cm in 2017. At Painshill Park, Surrey, a tree with characteristics intermediate between Q. rubra and Q. coccinea measured 17.5 m × 153 cm in 2017. A tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, originally received as Q. rubra in 1874, was 18 m × 142 cm in 2022; it colours yellow in autumn, which is surprising, given the putative parentage (The Tree Register 2025; MacEwen & Potter 2025).

In the USA, a tree at the Morris Arboretum may be up to 250 years old (Morris Arboretum 2023). Towering 26.5 m tall, its canopy spreads over 30 m across on a trunk 213 cm in diameter (Glattstein 2018). A tree at the Arnold Arboretum came from the Morris Arboretum and was 90 cm dbh in 2017. Another that grew at Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, was estimated to be over 350 years old: grown in cultivation for most of its life, probably as a pasture tree early on, it had developed a massive spreading crown. It was felled prior to 2009 due to its declining condition (Bunting 1995; MacEwen & Potter 2025).

Quercus × benderi was described in 1903 from a cultivated plant in the Scheitniger Park, Breslau (now Szczytnicki Park, Wrocław), Poland, and named after Dr. Georg Bender, Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of Breslau 1891–1912 (Baenitz 1904).

Quercus × benderi

Quercus × benderi foliage at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, in June 2023. Image Allen Coombes.

Quercus × benderi

Quercus × benderi at the Forest Botanical Garden, Göttingen, Germany, in October 2010. Image © Koen Camelbeke, Arboretum Wespelaar.

Quercus × benderi

Quercus × benderi at Painshill Park, Surrey, UK. June 2021. Image Aidan Champion.

Quercus × benderi

The old Quercus × benderi at the Morris Arboretum, USA, in October 2014. Image © Koen Camelbeke, Arboretum Wespelaar.

Quercus × benderi

Quercus × benderi bark at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, in June 2023. Image Allen Coombes.

Quercus × benderi

Massive branching structure of the Quercus × benderi at Kew, UK, in August 2021. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi

The Quercus × benderi at Kew, UK, in August 2021, showing some leaves that are matt green and relatively shallowly lobed. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi

Striking autumn colour on Quercus × benderi at the Forest Botanical Garden, Göttingen, Germany, in October 2010. Image © Koen Camelbeke, Arboretum Wespelaar.

Quercus × benderi

Quercus × benderi: A leaf highlighted by the sun at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, in June 2023. Image Allen Coombes.

Quercus × benderi

Some leaves on the Quercus × benderi at Kew, UK, seen in August 2021, are more deeply lobed and glossy, the acorns are relatively large and comparable to those of Q. rubra. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi

Foliage on Quercus × benderi at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK (29 September 2010). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Quercus × benderi

Leaf lower and upper surface on Quercus × benderi (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 29 September 2010). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Quercus × benderi

Large leaf on Quercus × benderi (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 29 September 2010). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

'Campanile'

Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Synonyms / alternative names
Quercus coccinea 'Fastigiata'

A clone with obovate leaves, 10–17 cm long by 7–11 cm wide, medium green above, paler below, mostly lacking the tomentum in vein axils found in Q. rubra. Major lobes (second pair from the apex) intermediate in shape with less splaying than is found in Q. coccinea but more than is typical of Q. rubra. Sinuses distinctly U-shaped rather than the typical C-shaped lobes of Q. coccinea, extending ½ to ⅔ of the way to the midrib. Number of lobes intermediate at 7–9. Leaf bases broadly cuneate (some inequilateral), petioles 3.5–5 cm long, light yellow. Twigs 3–5 mm, light grey-brown. Buds intermediate, 5 mm long by 3 mm wide, more rounded than Q. rubra but sharper than Q. coccinea, rusty-brown, covered with light pubescence (Russell & Jablonski 2023).

A fastigiate form with good autumn colour selected from a batch of seedlings of Quercus coccinea ‘Splendens’ by Danilo Bonacchi, a nurseryman from Pistoia, Italy c. 1990. It was named for the famous Bell Tower of the Cathedral in Piazza Duomo, Pistoia. The original tree was about 10–12 meters tall × 3 m wide in 2021 and has so far not produced acorns (F. Vignoli, pers. comm. 2021). At the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, it was 6.1 m × 10 cm dbh in 2022. It was originally distributed as Q. coccinea ‘Fastigiata’, but the leaves are intermediate between those of that species and Q. rubra.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' in the Pistoia nurseries, Tuscany, Italy, August 2007. Image Francesco Vignoli.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, in September 2021, showing the narrow habit. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' foliage at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, in September 2021. The matt green leaves show the influence of Q. rubra. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Base of the Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, showing the upright branches. Image Maricela Rodríguez.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Deeply cut leaves on Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' in the Pistoia nurseries, Tuscany, Italy, in August 2007. Image Francesco Vignoli.

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile'

Quercus × benderi 'Campanile' autumn colour in the Pistoia nurseries, Tuscany, Italy, in November 2011. Image Francesco Vignoli.

Contact the editors through the Contact page.

A site produced by the International Dendrology Society,
a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales number 1178252.

For copyright and licence information see the Licence page. For a privacy statement see our Privacy Policy.