Bur oaks primarily grow in a temperate climate on the western oak–hickory forested regions in the United States and into Canada. It commonly grows in the open, away from dense forest canopy. For this reason, it is an important tree on the eastern prairies, often found near waterways in otherwise more forested areas, where there is a break in the canopy. It is drought resistant, possibly because of its long taproot. At the end of the growing season, a one-year sapling may have a taproot 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) deep and a lateral root spread of 76 cm (2 ft 6 in). The West Virginia state champion bur oak has a trunk diameter of almost 3 m–Wikipedia (10 ft).
If you are only going to plant one tree in this life, make it a quercus macrocarpa.
