Oak log with black ring on butt

[LT40HDD51]

Man, all we have to deal with around here is red oak, pretty much  . I'm always amazed at the species of hardwoods down there, never heard of pin, water, willow or laurel oak. A year or so ago I drove from Indianapolis to somewhere in Kentucky, and was amazed at the hardwoods in the ditches and between the fields . Not used to seeing the all-hardwood stands, most of our forest is quite mixed. Around here the only hardwoods we have are hard and soft maple, yellow and white birch, oak (red), ash and poplar, for the most part...

[Warren]

WDH,

I would appreciate some additional help / training / tutoring on ID'ing the various type of trees in general and oaks, specifically.  I bought the Audubon tree book for the Eastern U.S.  I cut one tree in December that looked kinda like a laurel oak in the pictures.  But the book indicated north central KY was outside the native range.  Next closest pic was a Shingle oak.  Had the unlobed leaves that you mentioned in your previous post.

According to the Audubon book there are maybe 24 flavors fo oak native to the Eastern U.S.  Other than picking "white oak family" versus "red oak family" I would have a hard time differentiating 24 different species / varieties....

Warren

[WDH]

Sure Warren,

Let me think about how the best way to do that.......  We could set up an "Identifying the Oaks" post and go thru it in some detail if there is enough interest.  Otherwise, I could work with you off the Forum.

What do the rest of ya'll say, any interest in an "OAK ID" post?  (if it has not already been done :-\).

[beenthere]

To me, it sounds like a good idea for the forum to have such a thread. Consider the good technique and pics Swampdonkey has already posted of his work.

Certainly will have some good critique from da members on what you post, and that will serve to make it better. Hope you decide to do it.

[WDH]

Yes, I need to collaborate with SwampD on the best way to do it, and also, so others can get involved.  It should be fun.

[BBTom]

I would be interested in the identification thread, too!

I think the black ring may indicate when a fire (or flood, etc) damaged the tree.

[Ron Wenrich]

Here's a tree key that the National Arbor Day Foundation has developed.  You can work your way through it to come up with a species.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeID.cfm

Here's a tree key from Iowa State that seems useful.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/key.html

[Warren]

Ron,
Thanks for the links.  I ran thru both of them for the tree I cut in December.  Both led to Shingle Oak which is consistent with the Audubon guide.  Interestly, the Iowa link got to the answer much faster.  But the Arbor Day link appeared much more thorough.  Hmmm...

WDH,
I am willing to be a guinea pig either on Forum, or off.  Guess I am going to have to start paying attention to the details when I am in the woods.

I appreciate everyone's input so far on this thread....

Warren

[treebucker]

I didn't see laurel oak on those sites. A few days ago I was looking into shingle oak and several sites listed laurel oak as another common name for shingle oak, while other sites listed laurel oak as a distinct species.

I like the idea of having a good oak id page. I like side-by-side comparisons that show the most obvious clues to look for in sorting out the look-a-likes. I'm often confused by what seems to be the same picture/drawing being used to id different species within the group. This problem is compounded by seeing counterdictions from site to site i.e, Shumard on one site looking like black on another, black looking like bur, etc.). There simply doesn't seem to be enough accuracy and distinction.

Here's a sample of a decent side-by-side comparison:
http://www.mntca.org/Reference_manual/Tree_info/tca_oak_comparisons.htm
But this site does not cover all the species that grow here in Kentucky.

I'm also having similar problems sorting out hickories and maples.

[Ron Wenrich]

One thing to remember is that the same tree differs throughout its range.  That includes the quality of the lumber as well as the way it even looks.  Then there is also the problem of what a tree is named in one area is different in another.  Poplar is a very good example.  Sometimes things just look different on better sites as compared to a poor site.

We've had some good examples of pin oak as lumber and some really bad examples of pin oak.  The same can be said for black oak.