southern red oak
Quercus falcata Michx.
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Form
Habitat
Leaves
southern red oak leaves southern red oak leaves southern red oak leaves (underside)
Twigs
southern red oak twigs (buds) southern red oak twigs
Bark
southen red oak bark southern red oak bark
Flowers
southern red oak flowers (male) southern red oak flowers (male)
Fruit
southern red oak fruit southern red oak fruit southern red oak fruit southern red oak fruit
  • FAMILY: FAGACEAE
  • ALTERNATE COMMON NAME: Spanish oak
  • LEAVES: deciduous, alternate, simple; 5-9” long by 4-5” wide, elliptical to ovate with 3-7 lateral lobes, lobe tips acute and bearing bristle tips, prominent lobes typically falcate, blade base rounded; generally a typical sun leaf gives the appearance that the tree is giving you “the finger”; shade leaves and leaves of seedlings and saplings typically lack lateral lobes, and have only a few shallow terminal lobes and blade shape that is broadest near the apex, resembling a duck foot print; leaves dark green above and somewhat lustrous, pale green to rusty below
  • FLOWER: unisexual, plants monoecious, male flowers in catkins, female flowers inconspicuous, born singly or in short few-flowered axillary spikes
  • FRUIT: subglobose acorn ca. 0.5” long, cup saucer-like and embracing ca. 1/3 of the acorn
  • TWIGS: stout, gray when young, aging to reddish brown; buds lance-ovoid, 0.25” long, scales brown, with antrorsely appressed hairs on scale surfaces
  • BARK: bark dark gray-brown to blackish, thick, with deep furrows and blocky plates
  • FORM: medium to large tree
  • HABITAT: infertile soils of old landscapes, dry to mesic upland longleaf pine woodlands, shortleaf pine-oak-hickory woodlands; typically on sandy loam soils
  • WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative Upland (FACU): Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
  • RANGE: southeastern U.S. (broadly), north to IL, IN, OH, PA, NJ [USGS Range Map]
  • USES: cabinetry, furniture, construction lumber, flooring, veneer, railroad ties, fuelwood; lumber is inferior to Quercus pagoda and Q. shumardii
  • WILDLIFE: hard mast for many species including squirrels, raccoon, deer, turkey, woodpeckers, nuthatch, and grackles
    • Best Recognition Features:
    1. red oak of upland, infertile sites
    2. bark tight, dark gray to black, blocky-ridged and furrowed
    3. leaves with falcate major lobes, typical sun leaves have the overall appearance of giving one “the finger”
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