Leaf:  alternate, simple, 4-10" (10-25 cm) long, 2-5" (5-13 cm) wide, ovate, broadest beyond middle, lower half deeply divided into 2-3 lobes on each side; upper half usually with 5-7 shallow rounded lobes on each side to broad rounded tip, dark green and slightly shiny above, gray-green and with fine hairs beneath; turning yellow of brown in fall.

Fruit:  acorn, large; 3/4-2" (2-5 cm) long and wide; boadly elliptical, 1/2-3/4 enclosed by large deep cup with hairy gray scales, (the upper scales very long-pointed) forming fringelike border; maturing first year.

Bark:  light gray; thick, rough, deeply furrowed into scaly ridges.

Form:  tree with stout trunk, and broad, rounded, open crown of stout, often crooked, spreading branches.

Habitat:  From dry uplands on limestone and gravelly ridges, sandy plains, and loamy slops to moist flood plains of streams; often in nearly pure stands.

Range:  extreme southeastern Saskatchewan east to south New Brunswick, south to Tennessee, west to southeastern Texas and north to North Dakota; local in Lousiana and Alabama.  Usually at 300-2000' (91-10 m); to 3000'
(914 m) or above in northwest.

Location:  on the north-east corner of Meissner Street and Brookline.
 

Bur oaks are the largest of all native oaks.  The common name describes the cup of the acorn, which slightly resembles the spiny bur of Chestnut.  In the West it is a pioneer tree, bordering and invading the prairie grassland.  Planted for shade, ornament, and shelterbelts.

© Community Unit School District #8, Bunker Hill
    504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL  62014

References:
Little, Elbert L. Field Guide to Tree:  Eastern Region.  New York, NY:  Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1980.
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois.  Springfield, IL:  1992