Black Oak/Quercus velutina
Scarlet Oak
Quercus coccinea Muenchh.
Bark dark grayish-black, divided into irregular fissures and scaly ridges. Branches stout, spreading to ascending. Twigs 3 to 4 mm in diameter, reddish, turning a dull red. Buds ovoid, acute, 5 to 7 mm long, covered with rounded, lightly pubescent scales. Leaves alternate, deciduous, simple; glabrous, except in axils of main veins on underside, oval to slightly obovate, 8 to 17 cm long, 5 to 13 cm wide, with 5 to 9 deep lobes often terminated by secondary lobes with bristle tips, sinuses usually deep, round, and wider than lobes; both surfaces pale green, upper surface shiny, bright scarlet in autumn, petioles about 4 cm long. Flowers unisexual; staminate in catkins with developing leaves; pistillate on pubescent peduncles. Fruit an acorn; cup 15 to 30 mm wide, covered with brown scales enclosing about one-third to one-half of the nut; nut ovoid, 10 to 20 mm long, occasionally with ring grooves near apical point at maturity.
Scarlet Oak/Quercus coccinea
Northern Red Oak
Quercus rubra L.
Bark dark brown, thick, divided by shallow furrows into long, flat-topped scaly ridges. Branches stout, spreading and ascending to form a round-topped crown. Twigs slender, reddish-brown to dark red. Buds ovate, acute, light brown, 8 to 10 mm long. Leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, oblong to oval to obovate, 12 to 22 cm long, 10 to 15 cm wide; 7 to 11 short lobes, lobes 3-toothed, bristle-tipped; upper surface dull green. Flowers unisexual; staminate in slender catkins appearing with the developing leaves, pistillate inconspicuous on last year’s wood. Fruit an acorn, 15 to 30 mm long; cup saucer-shaped, enclosing about one-fourth of the nut.
