# Oak Variety



## Heather (Dec 24, 2008)

Anyone know what this is? 
It's an oak but I want to know which one if personal. Thanks 

http://mail.newenglandwild.org/exch...AF2-036E93DDAFB3/Striped Red Oak.jpg?attach=1


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## nikv (Dec 24, 2008)

Heather,

When I click on the link, it's prompting me for a user name and password. I cannot view the photo.

Best Regards,
Nik


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## Heather (Dec 24, 2008)

Hmm, let me try that again.


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## Heather (Dec 24, 2008)




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## NYEric (Dec 24, 2008)

Hmmmmm System Admins heapum unhappy!


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## Rick (Dec 24, 2008)

Any leaf pictures to go with it?

It's pretty tough to just go by bark.


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## nikv (Dec 24, 2008)

A leaf photo would be very helpful, but judging from the bark and my Boy Scout background, I'd say it might be a Red Oak. Are the leaf tops pointed or rounded? Medium green or dark green? What size are they? What do the acorns look like?

Edited: I meant to say leaf tips, not tops. Sorry about the misspelling.


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## Heather (Dec 24, 2008)

nikv said:


> A leaf photo would be very helpful, but judging from the bark and my Boy Scout background, I'd say it might be a Red Oak. Are the leaf tops pointed or rounded? Medium green or dark green? What size are they? What do the acorns look like?




Well, that's the problem. A) There are no leaves left on the tree. B) There is 2 feet of snow on the ground and the tree is unreachable. 

I will tell Steve, my colleague at work who asked, that you think it could be a red oak. That's what we were guessing too (clearly our hort. staff was out today...)

Thanks for the guesses (and making me laugh!)


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## Jon in SW Ohio (Dec 24, 2008)

So hard to tell without a leaf or acorn...but here's a good resource:

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/compare-oaks.htm


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## cnycharles (Dec 24, 2008)

pretty sure it isn't a white oak


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## PaphMadMan (Dec 24, 2008)

A picture of the whole tree would be helpful. The typical silhouette of oak species can be very distinctive.


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## goldenrose (Dec 25, 2008)

My husband is a custom cabinet maker, he claims there is no red in the outside of the bark on red oaks.


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## tim (Dec 25, 2008)

can you post pictures of the twigs with the buds on the ends? that's the most reliable way to id oaks in the winter...


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Dec 25, 2008)

I have a red oak growing in front of my house. There is no red in the bark. I have a pin oak right next to it...both have nearly identical leaves, very pointed and deeply incised...but the pin oak has down-swept branches, which is a real pain on a street tree,while the red oak has a more rounded/pyramidal shape. Also my pin oak doesn't drop its leaves...they turn brown, then stay on until new leaf growth pushes them off in the spring. Take care, Eric


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## cdub (Dec 26, 2008)

The bark says Northern Red Oak to me. The deep furrows and flat-topped "plateaus" are distinctive of this tree. I am unaware of how distinctive the reddish coloring of the bark is to this species and related species. 

Where is this tree? Many oaks in residential areas are hybrids and cultivars anyways. So, the variation may take on a slightly different form that what you might find deep in the woods.


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## Ron-NY (Dec 28, 2008)

Heather I have a winter key, in my library, for tree and shrubs. We could play 20 questions but you need a twig from the tree to start for we would need bud info. To do winter key I need I nee info on buds, branches, bark and acorns

I need to know bud shape, size and color, as to start the key.

Are the buds sharp and pointed or blunt also what is the length of bud ???


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## Heather (Dec 28, 2008)

Ok, lets forget this guys. I appreciate all of your help, but the issue was more pertinent last week when our horticulture staff was out. We should be able to get a definitive answer tomorrow.


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## Ron-NY (Dec 29, 2008)

ron puts away his key and leaves the room, LOL

Also let us know their answer...I am still betting on Quercus rubra


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## Heather (Dec 29, 2008)

That was our initial guess too, Ron.


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## NYEric (Dec 29, 2008)

I know basically nothing about trees, except how to plant 1200 little ones in one day!  However, I know for sure that there was one w/ exactly that type of bark growing at Vassar. No idea what it is.


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## em_tee_w (Dec 29, 2008)

It's certainly a red oak, but there are at least 6 species of "red oak" in MA, so a definitive ID will need leaves & acorns.


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## NYEric (Dec 29, 2008)

She just wants to know how hard the wood is so she can figure out what to use to carve her _'sweetie's'_ initials in it! oke:


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