Quercus rubra, L.

Form.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-5 feet; trunk long and free from limbs when standing in close growth, with a narrow or rounded open crown.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 5-9 inches long, with 5-7 toothed, bristle-tipped lobes, becoming narrower outward from rounded sinuses, thin and firm, smooth, lusterless dark green above, paler beneath.

Flowers.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the staminate flowers in long hairy catkins, the pistillate on short smooth stalks.

Fruit.—Acorns maturing the second autumn after the flowers; cup shallow, saucer-shaped, enclosing only the base of the nut; scales closely-appressed and somewhat glossy; nut oblong-ovoid, 1 inch long; kernel white, bitter.

Bark.—Rough with long fissures and flat-topped ridges, gray brown, inner bark light red, not bitter.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown.

Range.—Southern Canada and Minnesota to Florida and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—A common tree in all parts of the State. Most abundant and of superior size and quality in the high hilly and mountain sections.

Habitat.—Rich loamy or gravelly soils of bottom lands, slopes and ridges.

Notes.—The Red Oak is most frequently confused with the Black Oak from which it can be distinguished by the light red inner bark, the shallow-cupped acorns and the dull green leaves. This oak is extensively sawed into lumber which is easily worked and capable of a fine finish for furniture and interior work. As a tree for the park or lawn there are few which surpass it.