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".
The leaves of Northern Red Oak are wider past the midpoint of their length and they have 7-11 lobes with sinuses that go less than halfway to the mid-vein of the leaf. Read more at Southern Piedmont Natural History.
Quercus rubra var. ambigua and var. rubra tend to intergrade and their distinction as even varieties may not be warranted. For discussion of the two varieties, see McDougal & Parks (1984) and Jensen (1977), per Weakley's Flora (2023).
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm191222_2372_q_rubra
Clay County AL
Cheaha State Park
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_273
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_274
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_rubra_4
March
)
JK Marlow jkm0304e_13
April Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150412_312
April Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
)
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).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_rubra
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_rubra_1
September
)
Ron Lance rwl_20230919_190859
September Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
Occasionally a red oak with oversized acorns will be found (these nuts 3cm in diam, the cups 4cm).
)
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.
)
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu18607
October Pickens County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_quercus_rubra_acorn
November
)
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.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmqrubra_home
Month Unknown Anderson County SC
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
1198
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Look for it forests of slopes, coves, and - depending upon variety - ridges or ravines, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare to uncommon in Coastal Plain or Mountains, depending on variety)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, 5-ranked
FLOWER:
Spring
Staminate calyx 2-8 lobed, pistillate calyx 6-lobed
Petals absent
3-12 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
Staminate flowers in clustered drooping catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Acorn
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p049
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p312
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p282
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p211
- Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America (Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti, 2003) p088
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p191
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p285
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p23
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p259
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p278
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