Photo by Bobby Chappell
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Erythrobalanus
Species: coccinea
Common names:
Red oak
Black oak
3 - 5 inches long, and ovate in shape. There are 7 to 9 bristled lobes with sinuses almost to the midvien. The sinuses form a "C" shape in the leaf. I find this to be a very good way to tell a scarlet oak from a black oak or N. red oak. The top of the leaf is a waxy, shiny green and the bottom is a pale green. The laeves turn a brilliant scarlet color in the fall, hence the name.
Bark
The bark is dark gray and smooth. It becomes blackish with age. A stand out feature of the scarlet oak is the "ski trails" on the trunk. The bark will get furrowed as it gets older. The inner bark is reddish, where that of the black oak is more orange.
Fruit
The acorn of the scarlet is 1/2 to 1 inch long. It is egg-shaped and is covered by a deep cup 1/3 to 1/2 inch of its length.
The twigs a slender red-brown color. There are many terminal buds on the twigs. The buds are pointed, angled and slightly pubesent above.
Climate Scarlet oak likes a humid climate. Rain fall ranges from 30 inches a year in the west range to 55 inches a year in the southeast. Temperatures vary within the scarlet's range greatly.
Soils and Topography The deeper the A horizon, the better the scarlet will grow. It grows best on dry upland sites. It can be found on the low elevations of the Piedmont to elevations of 5000 feet in the southern Appalachians.
Quercus coccinea is a red oak. The acorns mature in 2 seasons and germinates in the spring. Other factors of red oaks are bristled lobes and butt swell. Scarlet oak in the southern Appalachians were found to drop their seeds later than other oaks it is associated with. A tree with a diameter of 20+ inches is at its reproductive peak. The acorns are consumed by many animals because of the sweet taste of the red oak acorn. For a scarlet acorn to germinate it needs a slight litter layer. Scarlet oaks also reproduce by stump strouting. The next generation is never as strong as the first however.
Q. coccinea is a medium sized tree that grows to 60 - 80 feet with a 1 to 2 foot diameter. Oconee Forest Park on the UGA campus has the states largest scarlet oak at about 120 feet tall and a diameter of more than 3 feet. Q. coccinea is the most shade intolerant of the oaks. It is a climax tree of Appalachians and does not like being overtopped.
Dangers Scarlet oak has thin bark which makes it susceptible to fire which occurs often in the dry upland sites it grows best in. Oak wilt is a problem with the red oaks. Trees can die within a month after the first symptons are detected from the fungus.
Quercus Velutina |
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| AREA | STATUS | REFERENCES |
| North America: Continental United States; Canada | Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Eastern United States: United States east of Mississippi River; Ontario and Eastern Canada |
Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Southeastern United States: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV | Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Southern Appalachian States: AL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV | Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Coastal Plain | Widespread | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Piedmont | Yes | Bobby Chappell; Pers. Ob. |
| Blue Ridge Mountians | Yes | Naitonal Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Yes | A Natural History Guide, G.S.M.N.P. , 1993 |
| Ridge and Valley | Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide,1995 |
| Cumberland Plateau | Yes | National Audubon Society Field Guide, 1995 |
| Central Arch | Widespread | National Audubon Society Field Guide,1995 |
| Georgia | Yes | Bobby Chappell; Pers. Ob. |
| Clarke County, Georgia | Yes | Bobby Chappell; Pers. Ob. |
| Sams Farm | ? | - |
| My Backyard | Yes | Bobby Chappell; Pers. Ob. |
Textbook of Dendrology, William Harlow, Ellwood Harrar, James Hardin, Fred White,
McGraw - Hill, Inc., 1996
A Field Guide to the Trees and Schrubs of the Southern Appalachians, Robert E. Swanson,
The John Hopkins University Press, 1994
A Natural History Guide, G.S.M.N.P., Rose Houk,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993
Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States, H.A. Fowells,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965
Photographs by Claud Brown, Professor, School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia