pretty little seedlings (SOLVED: scarlet oak)

[Lanier_Lurker]

I sprouted these little guys back in the spring.  Now they are into their first autumn, and showing good promise for the future with their nice color.

I know seedlings can be tough to identify.  Any ideas as to the species?

[Roxie]

That third seedling looks a lot like flowering cherry. 

[SwampDonkey]

I could tell more by the buds, than the leaves. I'd get out my twig and bud keys.

Is the first one a white oak?

[Lanier_Lurker]

The first hint is that they are oaks.

[woodtroll]

The first looks like cherrybark. The other two I can't see if there are bristle tips on the leaves. Could the last be shingle?

[Lanier_Lurker]

Second hint is that they are all the same species of oak.

[Dodgy Loner]

The first seedling looks like black oak.  The next two look confused

[Lanier_Lurker]

I gave a couple of these to WDH, but not to you.

Surprisingly, he seems to have a few of these down there already.  It is more of a piedmont and mountain tree.

[WDH]

LL,

I ain't tellin' . 

[Lanier_Lurker]

WDH, do those I gave you look like these yet?

[SamB]

Since my first thoughts that all three were oaks wasn't way off, I'll venture a guess of bear oak.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Had to do a little research as I had never heard of bear oak.   

No, these are not bear oak.

Here is how the leaf from a mature tree looks.

[SwampDonkey]

scarlet?

[kelLOGg]

The 1st one looks like the shape of a water oak to me. I haven't seem them red though.

Bob

[Lanier_Lurker]

SD got it.

They are all scarlet oak.

As many here have said, seedlings can be confusing.  Had I not seen and identified the actual acorns these trees came from I would certainly have had difficulty determining that they were scarlet oak.  Only in the first picture is there any hint of sinuses on the leaves.  But, although they cannot be easily seen in the pictures, all of the leaves have bristles on them.

Their fall color sure is nice.  I hope they don't lose it later on as they mature.

[SamB]

I should have got that one, I'm surrounded by scarlet oaks. I will say if you're planting those for yard trees you could choose a different oak species, scarlet oaks aren't the prettiest.IMO

[WDH]

WDH, do those I gave you look like these yet?

The shumards have not turned color yet.  The northern red is beautiful.  I will post a pic.  I plan to plant them after the first hard freeze.  They are doing nicely .

[Lanier_Lurker]

Yes, all but the lower leaves on my remaining shumards are still green.

But I thought I left a couple of scarlets with you that look just like these?

[WDH]

Mmmmm, I thought it was shumard and northern red with some hickory.  Time will tell .

[Lanier_Lurker]

Just look for the ones that have rounded leaves like these.

Perhaps their "true color" will begin to show soon. 

[SwampDonkey]

It's funny about those northern red oak. I have some seedlings that are scarlet red in fall, they came from down in Bear Island, 50 miles down river. The local ones on the woodlot that the wildlife planted go from yellow to brown in no time, some red mixed in though, but not all that colorful. The garden has a lot of those scarlet colored ones that look nice when the raspberry leaves turn red to.

All over and done with for this year though.

[SwampDonkey]

I will be very much interested in what the shape of those leaves look like in 3 to 5 years. I have some red oak seedlings here that look like red oak by leaf shape, but are scarlet red in the fall. My local wild red oak go yellow in the fall.

I know, beating a dead horse.