Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus
Section: Lobatae (red oaks)
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus rubra +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read Edible Wild Plants: Oak from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
Northern red oak is found higher in the southern mountains than any of its oak cousins, commonly seen in northern hardwood stands above 4,000 feet and recorded as high as 5,500 feet. Read more at Tree Talk, from University of Kentucky and Lexington community "tree-people".
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus rubra +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-015:
Quercus rubra + FAMILY Fagaceae
COMMON NAME:
Northern Red Oak, Red Oak
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_rubra_2
April
Upper trunk dark gray with conspicuous lighter gray vertical streaks, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu26354
May Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu83520
June Pickens County SC
Var. ambigua: Leaf sinuses extending about 1/3 of the way to the midrib, per Weakley's Flora.
JK Marlow jkm0509k_21
September Transylvania County NC
Silver Run Preserve
Acorn cup thick, covering 1/4 or less of nut, which is 20-30mm long, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
JK Marlow s080924_e
September Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Leaves evenly lobed about halfway to midrib. Leaves, twigs & buds hairless, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
COMPARE
leaves of Black, Northern Red, Scarlet and Shumard Oaks
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu10783
October Anderson County SC
Var. rubra and ambigua tend to intergrade. Distinction may be unwarranted, per Weakley's Flora.
JK Marlow s071101_d
November Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Var. rubra: Leaf sinuses extending about 1/4 of the way to the midrib, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Quercus rubra +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Quercus rubra +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-03-015:
Quercus rubra +
FAMILY
Fagaceae