Northern Red Oak

Quercus rubra

Northern red oak is widely distributed throughout the eastern US. It's the northernmost oak of the eastern oaks. It grows from southeastern Canada, south to southwestern Georgia and Alabama, and westward to eastern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. The native range is fairly similar. Northern red oaks thrive in deep, fertile, well-drained soils.

Fruit: A large, 2-3 cm long acorn. The acorn cup is shallow, enclosing only the base of the nut, hairy, with noticeably darkened tips. They ripen between August and October depending on the region.

Flowers: A yellow catkin occurring in the leaf axils. There are male and female flowers but they are both produced by a single tree. They bloom between March and May.

Uses: Northern red oak is commonly used as a street tree because it's resistant to transplant, cold weather, and city conditions. The wood is often used for lumber.

Ethnobotany: Acorns were used in various foods by Native Americans. The bark has been used to treat bowel problems, heart problems, and bronchial infections.

Importance to wildlife: Many animals eat the leaves, seedlings, and acorns. Northern red oaks provide good winter cover, and birds and small mammals are known to shelter inside the tree's cavities.

The full northern red oak tree. This one is quite young; mature trees can grow up to 120 feet tall.

A single leaf on a northern red oak. Leaves are 10-20 cm long, have 7-11 bristle-tipped lobes, rounded or wedge shaped at the base, dull dark green above, paler green beneath, and hairy when young but nearly glabrous when mature except for axillary hairs beneath. Leaves are usually shed later than most surrounding trees.

A twig on a northern red oak. Leaves are in a simple, alternate arrangement, though terminal clustering can make the arrangement harder to see.

The reddish petiole of a northern red oak.

A terminal bud cluster on a northern red oak. Buds are 5-8 mm long, narrowly ovoid, pointed, dark red or dark reddish brown, and glabrous.

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