Scarlet Oak

Quercus coccinea

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

▲ leaves

▲▼ leaves and buds

Location near campus:  Close Park, Botanical Center

Quercus coccinea: Scarlet Oak

·         leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, ovate with 7-9 bristle-tipped lobes-- major lobes are "C" shaped; 3-6" long and about 2/3 as wide; shiny dark green above; glabrous and lighter green below with tufts of hair in vein axils sometimes

·         stems light brown to red-brown, glabrous, angled with small gray lenticels

·         buds are ovate (football shaped) dark red-brown and glabrous on bottom half, pale woolly on top half

·         bark is dark gray brown with shallow fissures-- like pin oak

·         grows 70-75' tall and about 2 as wide

·         acorns solitary or in pairs, 1/2-1" long, tapering toward tip; cap covers 2 to 1/3 of acorn; acorn often has concentric rings around tip

·         prefers dry, upland sites

·         medium to fast growth rate

·         native to southeast Missouri