Quercus rubra - Northern red oak

The Northern Red Oak, Quercus rubra (syn. Quercus borealis), is an oak in the red oak group (Quercus section Lobatae). It is a native of North America, in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada. It grows from the north end of the Great Lakes, east to Nova Scotia, south as far as Georgia and northern Alabama, and west to eastern Kansas. It favors mesic or moderately moist valley and hillside sites with good soil that is slightly acidic. Northern Red Oak is so named to distinguish it from Southern red oak, also known as the Spanish Oak.

Northern Red Oak is easy to recognize by its bark, which features bark ridges that appear to have shiny stripes down the center. A few other oaks have bark with this kind of appearance in the upper tree, but the Northern Red Oak is the only tree with the striping all the way down the trunk. The leaves are 12-25 cm (5-10 in) long, with 7-11 lobes; the lobes are bristle-tipped, and less deeply cut than most other oaks of the red oak group (except for Black Oak which can be similar). The acorns are borne in a shallow cup 2 cm (0.8 in) wide, have a flat base and acute apex, 12-20 mm (0.5-0.8 in) long, green, maturing nut-brown about 18 months after pollination. Despite their bitter kernel, they are eaten by deer, squirrels and birds.

Trunk-scope: from 8 - 10 cm