TEXAN RED OAK
(Quercus Texana)

The line between red oak (Quercus rubra) and Texan red oak is closely drawn by botanists, but lumbermen do not recognize much difference except toward the extreme ranges of each. Some call one simply red oak and the other southern red oak, but that leaves doubtful the timber on a large area occupied by both species. Their ranges overlap two or three hundred miles in the Ohio valley and on the southern tributaries of the Ohio river in Kentucky and Tennessee. A large amount of red oak from that region goes to market, and no one knows, and few care, whether it is of the northern or southern species. It is usually a mixture of both. But outside of the common zone where both trees grow, the woods of the two are kept fairly well separate. Thirty years ago Texan red oak received slight recognition from botanists. When Charles S. Sargent compiled in 1880 a volume of over 600 pages, “Forest Trees of North America,” for the United States government, and which was published as volume 9 of the Tenth Census, he did not so much as accord this tree the dignity of a species, but called it a variety of the common red oak. Its range and its great importance were little understood at that time. Sargent thus described its range: “Western Texas, valley of the Colorado river with the species and replacing it south and west, extending to the valley of the Neuces river and the Limpia mountains.”

Compare that restricted range with that given by the same author twenty-five years later in his “Manual of the Trees of North America.” He gives it thus: “Northeastern Iowa and central Illinois, through southern Illinois and Indiana and western Kentucky and Tennessee, to the valley of the Apalachicola river, Florida, northern Georgia, central South Carolina, and the coast plains of North Carolina, and through southern Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana to the mountains of western Texas; most abundant and of its largest size on the low bottom lands of the Mississippi basin, often forming a considerable part of lowland forests; less abundant in the eastern Gulf states; in western Texas on low limestone hills and on bottom lands in the neighborhood of streams.”

This quotation is given in full because it shows how scientific men change their opinions to conform to new evidence. The range of that particular species was as wide in 1880 as in 1905, but botanists had not yet worked it out. Thus knowledge increases constantly, and year by year the resources of American forests are better understood. In this instance, what in 1880 was supposed to be a rather insignificant variety, occupying a restricted area in Texas, was found by 1905 to be a separate species, covering sixteen states in whole or in part. Similar progress concerning the forests has been made all over the country, not only by botanists but by lumbermen. Trees which were formerly considered so nearly alike that no distinctions were made, are now recognized to be quite different.

The Texan red oak is frequently called spotted oak. The appearance of the bark suggests the name. Large, irregular, whitish patches cover the trunks. That peculiarity is not noticeable everywhere and on all trees, but is common west of the Mississippi river. The tree is sometimes known as Spanish oak in the southwestern part of its range, but the name is ill-advised, for the true Spanish oak (Quercus digitata) occurs in the same region. The most usual name for this species, in nearly all parts of its range, is simply red oak.

The Texan red oak varies greatly in size of trees, as is natural in so wide a geographical range. Trees have been reported 200 feet high and eight feet in diameter; but sizes like that are extraordinary and attempts to locate anything approaching them at this day have not been successful. The average in the lower Mississippi valley is eighty or ninety feet in height, and two or three in diameter. In Texas this size is seldom reached, the average not much exceeding half of it.

The leaves of Texan red oak are about half the size of those of the northern species. That alone will not serve to separate them, because of such great variation. It applies only to averages. The southern trees’ leaves are from three to six inches long, two to five wide; the northern species bears leaves from five to nine inches long and four to six wide. The acorns of the two species do not show so much difference in size. The states which use Texan red oak in largest amounts are Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, though some of this wood finds its way to northern markets where it passes as red oak without any questions. That condition renders very difficult the task of separating the woods. It is not so difficult further south where the true red oak is seldom seen. Shipments go north, not south. The two red oaks mingle in the lumber yards north of the Ohio river, but seldom south of the Tennessee river.

Investigations made by the Forest Service of the utilization of woods in various states show that factories report the annual use of Texan red oak as follows: Louisiana 1,777,000 feet, Mississippi 2,400,000, Texas 2,814,000, Alabama 5,500,000, and Arkansas 39,301,000. This does not include lumber or other forest products used in the rough, or lumber shipped out of the respective states.

Texan red oak is heavier than its northern relative, hard, light, reddish-brown, much of it of rapid growth, with wide, clearly defined annual rings. The medullary rays are prominent, and show well in quarter-sawing. The best of the wood is as strong as red oak, and compares favorably with it in physical properties.

One of the most exacting uses of wood is for fixtures, such as counters in stores, bars in saloons, partitions in banks and counting rooms, and standing desks in offices. Extra wide and long pieces are required, and they must show satisfactory figure, and be finished to harmonize with the interior of the room where they are placed. Texan red oak is selected by builders in many southern cities for that class of fixtures, and it meets the requirements. It is used also for interior finish and furniture, and stair work.

Like most members of the black oak group, the wood is inclined to rot quickly in damp situations, but it measures well up to the average of the group to which it belongs. It is often employed in the South as bridge material, particularly as flooring for wagon bridges, where the wood’s hardness is its chief recommendation. Much is converted into flooring for halls, houses, and factories.

The available supply of this valuable wood in the forests of the South is not known, but there is little doubt that it exists in larger quantities than any other species of oak within its range. Perhaps in total quantity it exceeds red oak (Quercus rubra) in the whole United States. It is quite generally distributed over an area exceeding 300,000 square miles, and toward the western part, it is the prevailing oak. The future of this oak is assured. It is now cut at a rapid rate, and doubtless the annual growth falls short of the yearly demand; but it occurs in a range so extensive that scarcity will not come for a long period. If the time ever comes in the South when planted timber must be depended upon to meet the needs of the people, this oak will fill an important place in woodlots. It does not grow as rapidly as willow oak, but its range is more extensive, and it possesses certain desirable properties not found in willow oak. The acorns are rather poor mast, and this is in the tree’s favor, for the seed will be left to grow instead of being devoured by hogs and small animals of the woods. In that respect it has an advantage over cow oak and the other white oaks which occupy parts of its range. Their acorns are sought as food by domestic and wild animals. Texan red oak prunes itself well when it grows in close stands, but is low and limby when it occupies open ground. The trunks vary in form, but are inclined to enlarge at the base, particularly when they grow in low, damp situations, as many of the best do in the South.