BLACK OAK Quercus velutina Lam.
THE black oak, sometimes farther north called yellow oak or yellow-barked oak, usually grows to be about 80 feet in height and 1 to 3 feet in diameter. It is found commonly throughout the State. The crown is irregularly shaped and wide, with a clear trunk for 20 feet or more on large trees. The bark on the very young trees is smooth and dark brown but soon becomes thick and black, with deep furrows and rough broken ridges. The bright yellow color and bitter taste of the inner bark, due to tannic acid, are distinguishing characteristics.
BLACK OAK
Leaf, one-third natural size. Twig, one-half natural size.
The leaves are alternate, simple, 5 to 10 inches long and 3 to 8 inches wide, thick leathery shallow or deeply lobed, the shape varying greatly. When mature, the leaves are dark green and shiny on the upper surface, pale on the lower, more or less covered with down, and with conspicuous rusty brown hairs in the forks of the veins.
The winter buds are large, strongly angled, gray and hairy. The fruit matures the second season. The light brown nut is from ½ to 1 inch long, more or less hemispherical in shape, and from ½ to ¾ enclosed in the thin, dark brown, scaly cup. The scales on the upper part of the cup are loosely imbricated. The kernel is yellow and extremely bitter.
The wood is hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained and checks easily. It is a bright red-brown with a thin outer edge of paler sapwood. It is used for the same purposes as red oak, under which name it is put on the market. Its growth is rather slow.
The jack oak, Quercus ellipsoidalis Hill, is a smaller tree found frequently alongside black oak in the northern third of the State. The acorn is ellipsoid, small and enclosed in a deep cup, whose scales are closely appressed. The winter buds are slightly angular, smooth, and red-brown in color. Many small, drooping branches are sent out near the ground, which soon die, and the stubs or “pins” have given this oak the name of northern pin oak.