Northern red oak

Appearance

In many forests, this deciduous tree grows straight and tall, to 28 m, exceptionally to 43 m tall, with a trunk of up to 50–100 cm diameter. Open-grown trees do not get as tall, but can develop a stouter trunk, up to 2 m in diameter. It has stout branches growing at right angles to the stem, forming a narrow round-topped head. It grows rapidly and is tolerant of many soils and varied situations, although it prefers the glacial drift and well-drained borders of streams. It is frequently a part of the canopy in an oak-heath forest, but generally not as important as some other oaks.

Northern red oak is easy to recognize by its bark, which feature 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.

Naming

"Q. rubra" is grown in parks and large gardens as a specimen tree.