Twigs: Generally stouter than those of the Red Oak, smooth; pith star-shaped in cross-section; leaf scars alternate, but clustered near the tip of the twig, half-round, slightly elevated, with several bundle traces.
Buds: Smooth, red-brown, about one-third inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades up to 8 inches long, straight across or somewhat wedge-shaped at the base, with 2-4 pairs of lobes divided over ⅔’s the way to the mid-nerve, each lobe toothed and bristle-pointed at the tips, the sinuses broadly rounded, dark green and shiny above, with white tufts of hair in the vein axils beneath; leafstalks slender, smooth, up to 2½ inches long.
Flowers: Staminate and pistillate on the same tree, appearing as the leaves unfold, inconspicuous, the staminate crowded in a catkin, the pistillate solitary or 2-3 together.
Fruit: Ripening in October of the second year, on stalks less than ¼ inch long, usually produced singly; acorns broadly egg-shaped, short-pointed at the base and flat at the top, up to 1¼ inches long and about ¾ as broad, light brown; cup shallow, about ¼-⅓ covering the acorn, with closely appressed, densely short-woolly scales.
Wood: Light, strong, durable; not distinguished commercially from Red Oak.
Uses: Interior finishing and furniture.
Habitat: Bottomland woods and stream banks.
Range: Most abundant in the Mississippi basin, but known from Florida and Texas, north to Maryland, Pennsylvania, eastcentral Kentucky, Indiana, central Illinois, the eastern half of Iowa, and southeastern Kansas. The largest known Shumard’s Oak in the country occurs at Beall Woods in Wabash County, Illinois.
Distinguishing Features: Deeply lobed, shiny leaves with broadly rounded sinuses.