Transformational Gardening

Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea): Images

Date Location Notes Images
July 4, 2012 Southeastern, New Hampshire I wish there was is easier way to tell the difference between Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) and Black Oak (Quercus velutina) without looking at the terminal winter bud. Black Oak has a very long (7-10 mm) terminal Winter bud. There probably is an easier way to tell the difference, but I don’t know it yet.

There are only 5 oaks in New England that have leaves with bristle on the tips and lobes:
  • Bear Oak/Scrub Oak (Quercus ilicifolia): Short to tall shrubs (up to 16 feet). Distal leaf lobes long and spreading. Proximal leave lobes much shorter. Short (10-25 mm) petiole.
  • Red Oak (Quercus rubra): Sinuses of leaf usually extending less than 1/2 the distance from the tip of the lobes to the midrib.
  • Black Oak (Quercus velutina): Long (7-10 mm) terminal winter bud.
  • Pin Oak (Quercus palustris): Terminal winter bud is glabrous or with just a few hairs at the apex. The bud tends to be more pointed than Scarlet Oak bud. Rounded to obscurely angled in cross-section. Inner bark is pinkish.
  • Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea): Terminal winter bud is hairy at the apex. Bud is 5-angled in cross-section. Inner bark is orangish pink.
I thought it might be Pin Oak, but it is not found in New Hampshire (normally) and a closeup of the bud showed that the apex was hairy (see picture below).