Oak ID: White vs. Red?

[Canyon Angler]

I was cutting some pushed-down oaks the other day, and I thought they were white oaks, but now I'm not sure.

I was always told that if the lobes on the leaves were round, the oak was white; and if the lobes on the leaves were pointed, it was red oak.

Well, the lobes on these leaves were round – but the heartwood of the tree was much darker (at least, from the end-grain view) than the sapwood. This led me to believe it was a red oak.

Can anyone give me any down-and-dirty methods for distinguishing the two? Do they ever "cross pollinate" or "hybrid," as for example with chestnut oaks?

Thanks for any tips.

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Yup, the tree you are describing is in the White Oak Group.

 

[trimmmed]

Look at your endgrain cuts, the red oak will look like a bunch of straws and the white oak will look smooth. With the exception of chestnut oak, which is the only porous white oak I think.

You can usually tell by the bark as well.

 

[woodshop]

In my experience cutting up oaks, trees from both red and white oak groups all have darker heartwood than the sapwood, so that wouldn't be something to use to distinguish between red and white groups. Here in the Appalachian forsests of the east, red oaks tend to have more of a pinkish reddish heartwood, and white oaks tend to have a more greenish brown heartwood. There are exceptions to that depending on the soil and minerals where the tree grew, but in general that tends to be the case. I agree with trimmed though, bark is the easiest way to tell a white oak from a red, the white oaks have more of a flaky, papery kind of bark, where the red oaks often have deep furrows or plates.

 

[fmueller]

Anyone ever notice that red oak stinks when you cut and split it. Or should I say has a certain aroma to it. Don't notice that on the white oaks.

 

[Full Skip]

Anyone ever notice that red oak stinks when you cut and split it. Or should I say has a certain aroma to it. Don't notice that on the white oaks.

Yes, It smells like vomit to me.

 

[Canyon Angler]

Thanks, everyone.

 

[woodchux]

White oak can have very red heartwood.

 

[Freakingstang]

So where do Pin oaks fall into this? I thought I had a pin oak, but after your bark description and heartwood color, it sounds like white oak.

-Steve

 

[trimmmed]

Pin oak is a red variety.

 

[geofore]

Red vs White

The oak test, Red oak is open and white is not. Cut a piece about 2"-4" long and see if you can suck on it like a straw. Red will pass water or air and white will not. Cut red thin and you can see light right through it, white you can not. An older tree is easy to tell with the round lobe=white and pointed lobes=red. Young oak trees can have both round and pointed and are hard to tell apart. White oak seeds can be planted as is, thin skinned and red oak seeds need to be scarified to grow thick skin cover on the seeds.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Oak Aroma

Right on about the red oak odor. Some of it downright stinks. White Oak - Quercus alba, smells like good boubon - or vice versa - due to the aging in oak. It's also called "stave oak" due to it's usefulness in making barrels for whisky and wine.

 

[Freakingstang]

Pin oak is a red variety.

Does it have the red oak scent to it?

I must be the only one that likes to split a couple cords in an afternoon with the aroma of red oak....

I must have had a white oak. It didn't have the scent that red oak does at all, and had a flaky bark, with a dark brown heartwood and almost white sapwood, nothing like red oak.

 

[65x55BPD]

what group do water oaks and live oaks fall into?

 

[trimmmed]

Does it have the red oak scent to it?

I must be the only one that likes to split a couple cords in an afternoon with the aroma of red oak....

I must have had a white oak. It didn't have the scent that red oak does at all, and had a flaky bark, with a dark brown heartwood and almost white sapwood, nothing like red oak.

I turned a vase from some pin oak, the smell almost made me gag. I thought it smelt worse than your basic red, which doesn't bother me. The smell of that pin was bad enough I never turned another piece of that tree.

The bark on a pin looks like a red just not as pronounced. (looks like a "lite" version)

 

[Urbicide]

Here is a link to Ohio's tree index. They have 15 species of oak listed.

http://www.ohiodnr.com/forestry/trees/default.htm

Want any buckeyes?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

what group do water oaks and live oaks fall into?

I'm not sure all Oaks fit into one or the other groups. The Red/White grouping is more of a general thing, rather than a taxonomic categorization.
Looking at the lobes can help you decide what group the tree comes from, to narrow down the ID possibilites.
If it doesn't have rounded, or pointed lobes, like the Water Oak, you know it's not from the Red or White groups. That only leave a handful of possibilities.

 

[MS-310]

Some one told me that there is 52 types of oak in the world any one Know????
Jack

 

[trimmmed]

Some one told me that there is 52 types of oak in the world any one Know????
Jack

Not sure of the exact #, but yes, there are alot of them.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Some one told me that there is 52 types of oak in the world any one Know????
Jack

Michael Dirr lists 44 of them in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.