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Quercus alba L., also known as white oak, eastern white oak, or American white oak, is a quintessential North American species within the white oak section (Quercus) of the genus Quercus, subgenus Quercus. This species plays a vital role as a keystone species in eastern North American forests and plays a significant role in local and regional economies. As a long-lived woody perennial covering an extensive natural range, Q. alba’s biology is shaped by a myriad of adaptations accumulated throughout its natural history. Populations of Q. alba are crucial repositories of genetic, genomic, and evolutionary insights, capturing the essence of successful historical adaptations and ongoing responses to contemporary environmental challenges in the Anthropocene. This intersection offers an exceptional opportunity to integrate genomic knowledge with the discovery of climate-relevant traits, advancing tree improvement, forest ecology, and forest management strategies. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the current understanding of Q. alba’s biology, considering past, present, and future research perspectives. It encompasses aspects such as distribution, phylogeny, population structure, key adaptive traits to cyclical environmental conditions (including water use, reproduction, propagation, and growth), as well as the species’ resilience to biotic and abiotic stressors. Additionally, this review highlights the state-of-the-art research resources available for the Quercus genus, including Q. alba, showcasing developments in genetics, genomics, biotechnology, and phenomics tools. This overview lays the groundwork for exploring and elucidating the principles of longevity in plants, positioning Q. alba as an emerging model tree species, ideally suited for investigating the biology of climate-relevant traits. 

Summary White oak (Quercus alba) is an abundant forest tree species across eastern North America that is ecologically, culturally, and economically important.We report the first haplotype‐resolved chromosome‐scale genome assembly ofQ. albaand conduct comparative analyses of genome structure and gene content against other published Fagaceae genomes. We investigate the genetic diversity of this widespread species and the phylogenetic relationships among oaks using whole genome data.Despite strongly conserved chromosome synteny and genome size acrossQuercus, certain gene families have undergone rapid changes in size, including defense genes. Unbiased annotation of resistance (R) genes across oaks revealed that the overall number of R genes is similar across species – as are the chromosomal locations of R gene clusters – but, gene number within clusters is more labile. We found thatQ. albahas high genetic diversity, much of which predates its divergence from other oaks and likely impacts divergence time estimations. Our phylogenetic results highlight widespread phylogenetic discordance across the genus.The white oak genome represents a major new resource for studying genome diversity and evolution inQuercus. Additionally, we show that unbiased gene annotation is key to accurately assessing R gene evolution inQuercus.