What kind of Oak is this?

[379hammerdown]

I was wandering though the woods on my property today & came across this oak tree that had fallen across one of the path's. What kind is it? All four leaves are from the same tree. Thanks

[Tom]

Looks like a blackjack, maybe.


Check this link out for Identification of Oaks.

[379hammerdown]

Never heard of a Blackjack oak before! There sure are a LOT of different kinds of oaks out there. I've even got a book that is for identifying tree types, there are about 20 different oaks in there, & I've yet to be able to match one on my property to one in the book HEHE

[stumpy]

This is what I learned about oak.

There are two families of oak Red and white.  The easy way of identifying which family they are in is to remember: The white man used bullets the redman used arrows. Arrows are sharp and bullets are rounded.  If the leaves are rounded, they're in the white oak family.  If they're sharp or pointed, they're in the red oak family.  Beyond that, there are many different "members" of those families, and I'm not very good at identifying those.

[beenthere]

From the pics, appears to be white oak group. Blackjack oak is in the red oak group. From what I can tell.

Need to search more, but would concentrate in the many white oaks.  A question, do the leaves stay all winter, or drop?   If they stay, maybe in the live oak group.

[Tom]

Here's a way to help simplify it.

There are two main groups of oaks.  White Oaks and Red Oaks  (arguments about the placement of live oak is rampant amongst botanists.)

The white oaks have closed tyloses and the red oaks have open tyloses.
The white oaks have species names containing "white Oak", but also contains species of other oaks that don't have the name "white Oak".  Burr Oak is an example.
Red Oaks have species names that contain "red oak" but not all red oaks are called "red oak"  Water Oak is a red oak, for example.  So is Shumard.

Be careful when talking of Oaks that you make the distinction between identifying one of the two (or three) "Oak Groups", or a species within that group.  To speak in generalities (white oak) can make for a confusing conversation.

Steve Nix has a good page on About.Forestry with tree identifications on it.   Steve is a long-time member here and spends a good deal of his time creating Forestry oriented articles.  Here is a link to his "Identification of Hardwoods" page.

You will notice that we share the same experts and you will receive good advice about tree identification, tree health and Forestry in general by developing a conversation with Tranger and Phorester, amongst some of our very own, here.  Once in a blue moon, Steve will visit.  I wish it would be more often.  Check out some of the information he has put together and come back to tell us what you think.

You will find many "fly-by-night", self-proclaimed botanists and foresters on the Internet.  The terms get used rather loosely and you have to be careful about listening to all the New and Great these guys profess to be the truth of life-long studies.   Sites like Steve's and our own Forestry Forum rely on the education of truly schooled foresters, botanists and others educated in the natural sciences.  You can generally rely pretty heavily upon their statements or recommendations.   You will also note that they use documents created by the USDA, USFS and other Government agencies as their footnotes.

Perhaps one of these fellows will come on and tell us a rule of thumb for identifying the "groups" of oaks.

(well, i gave you some duplicate info that came in while I was typing this soliloquy, but I posted it anyway.  DanG if I'm going to delete all of those hard-to-find letters)

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like overcup oak Quercus lyrata of the white oak family. Also known as swamp post oak or water white oak. Are the acorns nearly covered by the 'cup'? It also hybridizes with other oaks in it's range according to USFS.

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/quly.htm

[LeeB]

Also looks like Bur Oak to me. If you find some really huge acorns around the tree I would think Bur. LeeB

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Post oak and it is in the White Oak line and of the Beech family as are all oaks.

  How do I know?    I can look out the window and see several leaves just like them hanging on a post oak tree next to a turkey track red oak and a white oak. 

[379hammerdown]

All of you thank you very much. I've actualy learned quite a bit thus far... about oaks I like what stumpy said, thanks.

Knowing hardly nothing about oaks before... Make sure that I have this general idea straight. There are two main oak family's. Red & White.

• Oaks that fall under the Red oak category have leaves that are sharp or have points on the tips.
• Oaks that fall under the White oak category have leaves that are rounded.

The leaves that I have pictured are rounded so they are in the White oak family, & most likely Post Oak specifically, correct?

I don't have any acorns to look at as its pouring rain right now... and its about a 15 minute walk out into the woods from my house. Kind of a mess over there too because it took down a couple pines on its way down! This is just a poor tree that must have fallen down within the past 2 weeks for some reason. Uprooted & all none the less. I just happened to come accross it as it was blocking my trail when I was fixin to throw out some corn for the wildlife.

[metalspinner]

To throw a kink in there about round and pointed leaves, Southern Red Oak has rounded leaves.  Lots of those around here.

[Pullinchips]

On some older red oak family leaves the bristle tips fall off or are hard to see.  This maybe the case hear. give up some mor characteristics like top or bottom of hill and soil type and bark type.  Could be post oak burr oak bluejack etc. Really need more info and the location of the tree to be for sure as oak leaves are very variable and oaks can hybridize.

-Nate

[SwampDonkey]

Post oak would definately be my second guess. Leaves are so variable on some tree species.