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Field

Oaks of the World

The Sibley Guide to Trees

Common Names

northern red oak

Northern Red Oak, Red Oak, Gray Oak, Eastern Red Oak

Geographic Range

SE Canada; Eastern USA; 0-1800 m; introduced in Europe in 1724;

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Growth Habit

25-30 m (smaller in cultivation); stout trunk; branches often low on the trunk;

Decidious. Medium to large tree. Often 90’.

Leaves

10-20 x 7-12 cm; oblong; apex pointed; base broadly cuneate; margin with each side 3-5 lobulate, bristle-tipped lobes and shallow sinuses; dark lustrous green, hairless above (except when young, with uniseriate and solitary hairs on veins, and scattered rosulate ones); pale dull green beneath, with some axillary tufts of brown stipitate fascicled hairs; red at fall; petiole hairless, 2.5-5 cm, dotted with red;

7”
petiole often red
tapred, pointed, usually shallowly lobed
smooth, green underleaf

Fruits (Acorns)

acorn 1.5-2.8 cm long; ovoid or subglobose; singly or paired; cup shallow, at the base of the nut; with rusty brown rounded scales; maturing in 2 years;

1”
larger than similar red oaks
shallow tightly scaled cup

Flowers

spring; male catkins slender, 5-8 cm long;

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Bark

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young tree trunks dark grayish and smooth
mature trunks form long, broad, smooth ridges and shallow fissures

Twigs

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realtively short and rigid with large clusters of buds at tips
occassioanly retains caps into winter
reddish

Buds

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reddish

Hardiness & Habitat

hardy; prefers lime-free soils, even sandy or rocky ones; fast growing; living up to 200 years;

Common and widespread, growign mainly on mesic uplands, occoasionally in drier or wetter areas.
Zones 3-7
Commonly cultivated

Additional Information

– A. Camus : n° 425; – Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, Series Coccineae; – Closely related to Q.coccinea , but branches of rubra are stouter and horizontal, leaves have shallower sinuses; – Hybridizes with Q.coccinea (= x benderi ), Q.ilicifolia (= x fernaldii ), Q.imbricaria (= x runcinata ), Q.palustris (= x richteri ), Q.phellos (= x heterophylla ), Q.shumardii (= x riparia ) , Q.velutina (= x hawkinsiae ) ;

2 vars. var. borealis more common north, has a deeper acorn cup and more deeply lobed leaves than var. rubra, but these differences are not well defined and overshadowed by individal and other variations