THE RED OAK 



THE Red Oak is a typical example of the group with bristle -pointed lobes on the 

 leaves and with acorns that require two seasons to reach maturity. It is an 

 abundant and widely distributed species, well known to nearly every one and 

 both in summer and winter is one of the most beautiful of our native trees. It is readily 

 distinguished from the somewhat similar Black or Yellow Oak by its much larger acorns, 

 its straighter branches, and its pinkish-gray inner bark. It is distinguished from the 

 Scarlet Oak by its larger acorns, with a cup much broader than high, and by the broader 

 blades of the leaves, the lobes of which generally are not so deeply cut as those of the Scar- 

 let Oak. There are two forms of leaves, one broad with rather shallow sinuses ; the other 

 slender with deep sinuses. In winter the Red Oak is characterized by a general straight- 

 ness of limb and smoothness of shining bark that give it a very attractive appearance. 

 The youngest shoots commonly have column-like ridges that lead to the shield-shaped 

 leaf-scars on elevated bases. The buds are narrowly conical and generally sharply pointed, 

 the scales being slightly downy but much less so than are the scales on the winter buds of 

 the Black or Yellow Oak. 



The wood of the Red Oak is hard and rather coarse-grained, weighing forty-one 

 pounds per cubic foot and being light reddish brown in color. It is used largely for fuel 

 as well as for furniture and many other purposes. The tree commonly reaches a height 

 of less than a hundred feet but sometimes specimens one hundred and fifty feet high are 

 found. The trunk diameter is frequently three or four feet, the largest trees being found 

 in the more central portions of its range, especially in the northern part of the basin of 

 the Ohio River. Its range extends from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec west to 

 Kansas and Nebraska, and south to Virginia and Tennessee, and along the slopes of the 

 Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. 



The Red Oak is one of the most desirable trees for shade and ornament. When 

 once successfully transplanted it grows very rapidly and is an admirable tree for street 

 purposes. About its only serious insect enemy is the twig-pruner, which sometimes causes 

 considerable numbers of twigs to fall to the ground beneath the tree. If these are all 

 gathered and burned, however, the insects will be destroyed and their injury checked. 

 This species grows more rapidly than the other oaks, and thrives best in well-drained 

 sandy clay soils where there is a fair amount of moisture. The bitter acorns are seldom 

 molested by squirrels so that for forestry purposes they can be planted directly in the field 

 with little fear that they will be dug up, as are too often the acorns of the White Oak. 



(125) 



