Red Oak

 
One of the fun finds at Nordhouse this week, was some red oak. Actually, all oaks with points on the leaves instead of rounded lobes are called "red oaks." The others are "white oaks." However, only one, Quercus rubra is the actual red oak.

Here are some leaves, and sure enough, they have points.



But there are other things to pay attention to to narrow it down. For one thing, count the number of lobes on the leaves. Most of these have 9. Red oak can have 7-9, the others 5-7. So, if you count a lot of 9s, you've got red oak. Also, the notches are more V shaped than U shaped. I know, that's hard to see unless you have others to compare. I'll try to do that another day. And to distinguish it from pin oak and scarlet oak, notice that the notches (sinuses) aren't very deep.

I am showing you the red oak this week because the acorns are really distinctive, and it's a good year for acorns. Here they are- almost an inch across.



They aren't always quite this big, but the notable thing is that they are rather roundly square. They are about as wide as long. Also note that the cap only covers about a quarter of the fruit.

They aren't rare or anything, but I see more of the black oak, so it was a nice find for me.

	See It's the Oak's Turn
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