Leaf: Alternate, simple, dark green, 7- to 11- lobes
Flower: staminate and pistillate borne separately, but on same tree; appear when leaves unfold; without petals
Fruit: acorn, pale brown, up to 1 1/2 inches long
Twig: reddish brown
Bark: grayish-brown, reddish brown, black and with dark stripes
Form: oval tree
Mae Meissner Whitaker Community Park in Bunker Hill, Illinois
Latitude-N 39° 3.146'
Longitude-W 89° 57.038'
The northern red oak is known for its strength and fast growing nature. It's very common along the streams and in wooded areas. Some uses of the northern red oak are fence posts, furniture, and interior finishes. The acorns the tree produces are eaten by squirrels, deer, turkey, and probably many other birds and animals. The bark is a steel gray brown until it gets older and it then develops a dark reddish brown to a black bark.
The Northern Red Oak is located in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska to Georgia, and Oklahoma.
© Community Unit School District #8 Bunker Hill, 504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL 62014
References:
Cassie, Brian. First Field Guide Trees. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley, Inc., 1992
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. Springfield, IL: 1992
Petrides, George A. A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972
Wernert, Susan J. ed. North American Wildlife. Pleasant, NY: Reader's Digest, 1982