Quercus rubra (Northern red oak): Information.

Identifying characteristics:
The northern red oak has a broad, rounded crown that casts dense shade and grows up to 80 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet. The leaves are 5 to 9 inches long, with 7 to 11 bristle-tipped lobes on each side and narrow, U-shaped sinuses extending less than half way to the midrib. The leaves are a dull green above, paler below and turn a deep, reddish-brown color in the fall. Small tufts of hair occur in the axils of the main veins on the underside of the leaves. After 20 to 25 years of age, flowers are produced each spring and it takes another 20 years before abundant acorn crops are produced. The acorns are 0.5 to 1 inch long, ovoid and unstalked or almost so. The saucer- to bowl-shaped cups cover no more than the lower third of the nut and have closely appressed, red-brown scales. Produced singly or in pairs, the acorns mature in 2 years. The buds are ovoid, rounded or slightly pointed, smooth or hairy just at the tip and are covered with reddish-brown, overlapping scales. Bark is smooth and slate-gray, becoming dark brown to almost black, developing shallow, vertical ridges to appear slightly "striped" on the upper bark.

Similar species:

Ecology:
Distribution: The northern red oak is native to the eastern US and extreme south-eastern Canada. It is one of Iowa's most widely distributed and common oaks, native to all but a few counties of sparsely-wooded, northwestern Iowa.

Habitat: Adaptable to a variety of soils, this species is found on both stream terraces and dry ridges, but prefers moist, well-drained, sheltered slopes and deep, fine-textured soils. It is susceptible to oak wilt and root rot, but is otherwise relatively free of problematic pests and diseases.

Uses:
Wood: The wood is hard, strong and heavy, but weaker, coarser and less resistant to decay than that of the white oak. An important timber tree, the northern red oak is used for furniture, veneer, flooring, pallets, boxes and firewood. When treated, the wood is also suitable for fence posts, railroad ties and mine timbers. It is, however, not suitable for holding liquids and is not used for making barrels.

Wildlife: The acorns are eaten by white-tailed deer, raccoons, squirrels, turkeys, blue-jays and small rodents. The buds and young twigs are browsed by deer once the winter acorns have been exhausted.

Horticulture: Widely planted in Europe as an ornamental, this species is one of the best native oaks for use as a landscape tree. It is faster-growing than most other oaks, is less susceptible to chlorosis than the pin oak and the fall colors are more spectacular.