Quercus rubra

COMMON NAME: Red Oak; Northern Red Oak

FAMILY: Beech Family; Fagaceae

GROWTH HABIT: Medium-sized to large tree with stout, spreading branches forming a broad, rounded crown.

FOLIAGE: simple, alternate, deciduous, 4 - 10 in. long. 7- 11 tooth, bristle-tipped lobes cut about halfway to the midrib. Lobes point forward. Dull, medium green above, paler below and glabrous, except for small tufts of brownish hairs in the vein axils. Petiole up to 2 in. long.

BUDS: Scales are pubescent only at tips.

BARK: thick, dark brown or nearly black, with shallow furrows, and flat, sometimes lighter colored, ridges.

FRUIT: Acorn, maturing in two years. oblong-ovoid, 2/3 1 1 in. long, sessile or nearly so. enclosed for one-third of its length or less in reddish-brown, saucer-shaped cup with many small, closely appressed scales.

NATIVE HABITAT: Nova Scotia, Quebec, Michigan, and Minnesota; south to southeastern Oklahoma and Georgia.