THE post oak is usually a medium-sized tree, with a rounded crown, commonly reaching a height of 50 to 80 feet and a diameter of 1 to 2 feet, but sometimes considerably larger. It occurs from Mason County south to the Ohio River being most common in the “Post Oak Flats.” The soil is a light gray silt loam underlaid by “tight clay.”
POST OAK
One-third natural size.
The bark is rougher and darker than the white oak and broken into smaller scales. The stout young twigs and the leaves are coated at first with a thick light-colored fuzz which soon becomes darker and later drops away entirely.
The leaves are usually 4 to 5 inches long and nearly as broad, deeply 5-lobed with broad rounded divisions, the lobes broadest at the ends. They are thick and somewhat leathery, dark green and shiny on the upper surface, lighter green and rough hairy beneath.
The flowers, like those of the other oaks, are of two kinds on the same tree, the male in drooping, clustered catkins, the female inconspicuous. The fruit is an oval acorn, ½ to 1 inch long, set in a rather small cup which may or may not be stalked.
The wood is very heavy, hard, close-grained, light to dark brown, durable in contact with the soil. It is used for crossties and fence posts, and along with other oaks of the white oak class for furniture and other purposes.
