Burr oak or.....
- Thread starter mn woodcutter
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woodchuck357
Addicted to ArboristSite
Bur oak is a member of the white oak family. The acorns from them are large and sweet tasting. My grand parents dried the acorns, ground them into flour and made frybread from them. Nothing tastes better than frybread cooked in bear grease!
If the wood had a funky smell it's red or black oak, if it smells sorta like whisky it's a white.
If the wood had a funky smell it's red or black oak, if it smells sorta like whisky it's a white.
Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
I have burr on my property too, and the acorns are totally edible (rather yummy!). It's no wonder the deer prefer them.
From what I can see in those pictures I'd have to say that ain't Black Oak.
Two reasons...
1)This far north the Black Oak rarely gets that big... most max-out at 24-inches or so, but Bur Oak is commonly something over 3-feet.
2)The inner bark of Black Oak is usually bright(ish) yellow... and I ain't seeing that in your pictures.
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Two reasons...
1)This far north the Black Oak rarely gets that big... most max-out at 24-inches or so, but Bur Oak is commonly something over 3-feet.
2)The inner bark of Black Oak is usually bright(ish) yellow... and I ain't seeing that in your pictures.
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the husk that holds the acorn together on a red oak grows to a 1/4th of the corn, white oak a tad bit closer to a 3rd, and burr oak husk will envelop a good half of the corn...
mn woodcutter
ArboristSite Guru
Looks like Red Oak.
Cbird14
Addicted to ArboristSite
Positive red oak. Easiest wood there is to split in our neck of the woods.
Cbird14
Addicted to ArboristSite
Reddish color is a dead giveaway. Red oaks hold their leaves longer which are pointed on the ends and the acorns are a bit on the bitter side.
Preston
Addicted to ArboristSite
Look a one of it's leaves to be sure. The burr oak has a wide bottom and sort of a long slender finger up the center.
c5rulz
Addicted to ArboristSite
20 - 30 miles North of me, the black oak starts and they are much smaller in size no matter how old they are. The black oak has little timber value unlike the Red and White oak.
Burr oak trees from a distance just have a gnarly look to them and get much bigger.
Burr oak trees from a distance just have a gnarly look to them and get much bigger.
Preston
Addicted to ArboristSite
Say what?? That don't describe any Bur Oak leaf I've ever seen...
Preston
Addicted to ArboristSite
The identification book I have, shows the Burr oak with a wide base with two points, then a long center part of the leaf with a a slight flair at the top with 3 slight points.
If that's wrong, blame it on the book. After, I'm not an Arborist, I'm just on the site.
If that's wrong, blame it on the book. After, I'm not an Arborist, I'm just on the site.
lindnova
ArboristSite Operative
Burr oak leaves can look like those three pictures. They do vary some and are very similar to white oak - burr oak is random and white oak is more even. Burr oaks are gnarly tough old trees. In SE MN we have a lot of burr oaks mostly on hillsides and prairie edges. Older hills & valleys have white oaks also. Burr oaks grow real slow - a 24" tree on a hillside can be 200 yrs old. The original pictures are definitely burr oak or white oak.
Red, pin or black oaks are similar. The pin or black have sharp pointe leaves with deep lobes and red oak lobes are less deep. The picture of the split looks like red, but could be pin as they are very similar.
All we have at my place is burr or pin oaks as we have old prairie hillsides.
Red, pin or black oaks are similar. The pin or black have sharp pointe leaves with deep lobes and red oak lobes are less deep. The picture of the split looks like red, but could be pin as they are very similar.
All we have at my place is burr or pin oaks as we have old prairie hillsides.
mn woodcutter
ArboristSite Guru
what part of MN are you from?
Yeah, sounds like your ID book has a printing error or some-such.
The leaf you're describing sounds like (just guessin") one of the variants of the Southern Red Oak (quercus falcata), often called Spanish Oak...
lindnova
ArboristSite Operative
Rochester
mn woodcutter
ArboristSite Guru
small world. I live 15 minutes outside of Rochester.
A 24" Bur Oak would be a "small" Bur Oak 'round here (about 70 miles south)... they don't get super tall as trees go, but the canopy is monster wide with huge branches. The bark is thick, sometimes several inches thick... which is/was a defence against prairie fire and bison damage. Many of the "big" ones have scars from ancient fires and whatnot. It was the relationship between the Bur Oak, the prairie and the bison that kept the prairie from expanding further east... the grass fires couldn't burn 'em out, and the bison couldn't browse 'em out, so the open grass land couldn't expand.
Oak Blight is now starting to take it's toll on our ancient Bur Oaks... a friend of mine lost three of them in his horse pasture just last summer, two of 'em 'round 40 inches. We were gonna' take them down and haul the wood to my place (about 1½ miles) this fall after the ground froze... using his tractor and wagon. Just didn't get it done... snow and cold came to damn quick and early. Next Year I reckon.
