A large oak came down at work. It is a variety of red, I know that much. Pretty sure its not red, I thought it was scarlet but another person told me black and another guy said true red. well the inner bark is red, so I think that would rule out black oak. The leaves look like either black or scarlet, definately not northern red oak.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/scarlet%20acorns.jpg)
This picture from dodgyloners post is a lot what it looks like. But I also looked in my tree id book and black oak leaves look like that too. The inner bark is definately not orangeish, the bark looks more like red oak bark, the wood is a dull red and the tree didnt look to be in good health either. It had discolorations on the endgrain near the but and the swell where it meets the roots had white rot and decay. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow hopefully the description helped out. Theyre getting it sawn into lumber( dont know why). At first look it looks like a good log, straight, 40" diameter inside bark. But the closer you look theres splits int he bark and a lot of enclosed knots and right hand spiral grain(not terrible but it still has some spiral to it). Ill try and get pictures as soon as I can.
Definitely sounds like scarlet. If it is black oak, the lower leaves (shade leaves) will be very large and have irregular shallow lobes. Almost blobby looking. Black oak acorns will be much smaller than in Dodgy's pic.
Here is a pic of black oak sun leaves (in upper crown) on the left and shade leaf (from lower shady part of the crown) on the right.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14370/IMG_1611.JPG)
The best thing is to post some pics for us.
Heres some pics
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/thumb_Oaktreepark_005COPY.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/thumb_Oaktreepark_004COPY.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/thumb_Oaktreepark_003COPY.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/thumb_Oaktreepark_001COPY.jpg)
Is it Pin Oak?
QuoteIs it Pin Oak?
That's my guess. I have those leaves blowing all over my patio right now. :-\
An acorn will tell the difference between pin oak and scarlet oak. The pin oak acorn cup will be more saucer shaped in depth while scarlet will have an acorn cup that is deep bowl shaped.
I thought pin oak liked to grow in very swampy areas. This tree and the others like it grew on flat land not directly next to a water source. The growth was rather slow compared to the pin oak I've seen. It has 98 rings in the trunk and it was 40" inside bark. I'll see if I can get an acorn tomorrow. Thanks.
Just a thought but when you say Pin Oak are you talking about Northern Pin Oak or Southern Pin Oak the Northern Pin Oak is adapted to a sand enviornment and very closely related to the Scarlet Oak. Its pyramidal form and taper makes it easy to seperate from Northern Red Oak which is the only other common Red Oak around here.
Mike
Yeah, what I've always known as Pin Oak, is found in sand around here as well.
In the Fredericton area they have some soil with a lot of tan colored sand near the river, underlaid with heavy red clay. Any red oak I seen down there is growing in that sandy soil. Couldn't help but be sandy when the parent material is Pennsylvania sand stone. :D :D Man that stuff sure harbors flees. Don't ask me why.
Deerdude take a look at this link http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/trees_shrubs/deciduous/northernpinoak.html It's a description for northern pin oak. It sounds like n. pin oak but your located too far east for it to be native so it's close relative scarlet oak would be more likely. Another possibility would be some type of hybrid.
Mike
In the South, there is a common name of "pin oak" for what is actually willow oak (Quercus phellos) and laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia). Pin oak is sometimes used for water oak (Quercus nigra) as well.
This is confusing because there is a true pin oak (Quercus palustris) which ranges through the East-central part of the US.
True pin oak and scarlet oak have very similar leaves, but the bark and the acorns are distinctly different.
Acorns most likely got mowed over when we chopped leaves. I can try and get a close shot of the bark if that would help though. Thanks.
Pin oak in this area naturally grows along waterways and in swampy areas. It doens't grow on higher ground unless planted. It is a common ornamental species, being used by lots of homeowners. It can grow in the compacted soils around houses and along streets, just like those clay bottom lands.
Scarlet oak is more of a high land species. I've never seen it in wet areas, and its pretty much of a rarity in our area. It grows more on the thinner soils and on poorer sites than what we have. I haven't seen them used too much as an ornamental.
Your dry leaves look more like pin oak, at least to me.
Most pure stands of red oak that grow up my way are on shallow rocky bluffs. We have a few places named for the oaks. Oakland, Oak Mountain, Oakville all on shallow, ledgy, rocky soils or bottomland along river banks.
We sawed it up, it had black knots and smelled like baby puke :D Sounds like pin oak. And my truck still smells of baby puke. smiley_smelly_skunk