Tree of the Week: Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata)

Some old trees have grown so large that all of their leaves and fruits are out of reach for most of the year. Gravity, weather, and fortune combine their powers to insure that we eventually get a look at the object of our interest, but not necessarily in the most valuable condition. For instance, there is a very large southern red oak in the arboretum, and this time of year we might care to examine its branches for developing acorns and speculate about what kind of crop we will have in the fall. As you can see from the photos below, the limbs of the tree are far out of reach, making this task nigh impossible. However, sometimes minor weather events can give us a clue as to what's going on up there in the world of the canopy.

The southern red oak (Quercus falcata) is pictured center. It is a very tall tree with a thick, stout trunk that appears white in the early morning sun. Lower limbs are entirely absent.

This is an old tree, antedating the inauguration of the arboretum.

At eye-level, we only see the straight, cylindrical trunk.

The rough, furrowed bark is dark gray.

In order to see any leaves, it's necessary to lean back and look up. These are way out of reach. From this vantage point we can see pointy leaves and very small, developing acorns.

But this past week, we had a windfall; a brief summer storm blew through the arboretum, knocking a few twigs loose, giving us a look at the new, dark-green leaves and their yellow stalks.

Leafstalks and buds alternate along the fuzzy, reddish-brown twig.

We also see acorns in arrested development. Only a few twigs were blown from this red oak, but each twig has multiple clusters of acorns.

The acorns occur in two different sizes. Most are quite small, appearing in clusters, which will take more than a year to mature. Other acorns are a little larger and appear individually. These will likely mature this autumn. Also, in this photo you can see the light-colored fuzzy underside of the leaf.

You can find additional images of the arboretum's southern red oaks here.

For more information about this species consult the following:
United States Department of Agriculture
Virginia Tech Dendrology
University of Florida IFAS