Common Name(s): Northern Red Oak, Red Oak, Champion Oak
Scientific Name: Quercus rubra
Family: Beech family (Fagaceae)
Species Description
Growth form: Northern Red Oak trees are hardwood deciduous trees that grow between 60 and 75 feet tall and about 2-3 feet in diameter.
Leaves, twigs, and bark: Leaf arrangement is simple and alternate. Grooves between lobes are deep u-shaped and each lobe has 3 hair-like teeth at the end of them. Petioles are yellow in color and leaves are pinnately veined. Bark is dark gray and brown in color with a diamond-shaped pattern.
Leaves of Northern Red Oak #107 showing pinnate veins, lobed leaf margin and alternate arrangement. (Photo by Brian Ditch 10/25/2019).
Fruits:
Flowers of the Red Oak Tree (Creative Commons Image, J.A. 2008)
Fruits: Acorns are round and light brown in color. They grow in alternating clusters of 2 to 3 along the stems of the tree. The caps that hold them are very shallow and only cover the very top of the acorn.
Fallen acorns from tree #613. (Photo by B. Ditch 10/25/2019)
Native range and habitat: The Northern Red Oak tree grows from the southern areas of eastern Canada through the southern United States. They also grow from as far west as Minnesota and east through the Appalachian states.
Distribution of Northern Red Oak trees in the Eastern United States (creativecommons, 2015).
Plant Family: The family Fagaceae is the beech family. This family include trees such as beech and oak trees. Beeches and oaks both posses unisexual flowers known as catkins and fruits in the form acorns.
Ecologic Importance and Uses:
Edible and Medicinal Uses: Northern Red Oak trees are some if of the most important trees in North America when it comes to the timber industry. The wood is a very close-grained hardwood that has been used for building and development. The wood is also used as prime firewood fuel and the acorns dropped from this tree are popular among wildlife as a food source for white-tailed deer and other small mammals and birds. Red oaks have also been a choice tree for replanting areas to be reclaimed from old strip mining fields.
Wildlife: Many of the wildlife in the state of Virginia rely on the acorns of the Northern Red Oak tree as a source of food. White-tailed deer, black bears, blue jays, and grey squirrels are just some of the animals that rely on these acorns as a primary food source.
Gardens and Landscaping: Northern Red Oak trees have been used in the past for replanting and reclaiming areas that have been strip mined. They also serve as great shade trees. They grow anywhere between 60 and 80 feet tall at their peak and have been known to dominate forest's canopy layers.
Campus Specimens - Northern Red Oak Trees
State and national champions: The state of Virginia has a national champion in Washington county that is registered at a point value of 446. Other national champions include one located in Ashtabula county, Ohio that is registered at a point value of 456. other notable mentions are Northern Red oak trees found in Roanoke, Mecklenberg, and the city of Alexandria in Virginia that lie in the point range from 363-398 points.
At Radford University: five northern red oak trees can be found on campus. Two of them are young trees not even 20 feet tall. These two are located behind the Moffett Hall on the far side of campus. The main three are quite large and are located in-front of Moffett Hall next to Drapper Hall.
Tree #611
Trunk circumference: 75 inches
Tree height: 52 feet
Crown spread: 43 feet x 41 feet Average= 42 feet
Total points: 137.5
Tree #612
Trunk circumference: 60 inches
Tree height: 46 feet
Crown spread: 47.5 feet x 45.5 feet Average= 46.5 feet
Total points: 117
Tree #613
Trunk circumference: 59 inches
Tree height: 44 feet
Crown spread: 45.5 feet x 43.5 feet Average= 44.5 feet
Total points: 114.1
References
Elpel, T. J. (2018). Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification, Edition 6.1. Hops Press, Pony, MT.