PHOTO DMarkham 3/02
who grew up playing under the tree on his grandfather's farm
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PHOTO DMarkham 3/02 who grew up playing under the tree on his grandfather's farm |
| National Champion
| Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra Beech Family — Oak Genus Rochester, New York Circumference = 405 inches (33.75 feet)
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| Identification & Culture |
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The Northern Red Oak is one of the biggest, most stately and handsome trees of the eastern U.S. and extreme southeast Canada. It is the northernmost oak, with a wide distribution, commonly found on north and east slopes from valley floors to midslopes of hills and mountains. The largest trees usually occur in protected ravines or sheltered slopes.
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PHOTO DYarrow 4/18/02 |
Northern Red Oak, also called Red Oak or Gray Oak, is one of the most important trees of North America. This species can reach a height of 150 feet, with a stout trunk and wide spreading limbs, and an age of 300 or more years. It grows well in a variety of soils, but does best in deep, fine textured soils. Sometimes it is the most abundant tree in an area, but often grows in association with white pine, white oak, white ash, sweetgum, yellow poplar, mockernut hickory, and basswood. It commonly hybridizes with black oak, willow oak, shingle oak, and bear oak, forming trees with intermediate characteristics.
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PHOTO DYarrow 4/18/02 |
Northern Red Oak is a moderate to fast-growing tree that flowers in early spring as new leaves begin to unfold. Trees normally require 20 to 25 years to reach flowering age, and then another 20 years to begin producing abundant acorn crops. Good acorn crops are produced every 2 to 5 years. Animals and insects eat most of the acorns produced, and this oak is an important source of wildlife food. Whitetail deer, black bears, raccoons, squirrels, turkeys, bluejays, and small rodents eat the fruits. Deer also eat buds and young twigs in winter after acorns are exhausted.
Northern Red Oak is one of our most impotant lumber species of red oaks. Its light reddish-brown wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, but not as resistant to decay as white oak wood. It is used for numerous purposes, including furniture, flooring, millwork, veneer, interior finishing, railroad ties, mine timbers, fenceposts, pilings, and pulpwood.
Northern Red Oak is a popular, handsome ornamental and shade tree, with good form and dense foliage. It transplants easily, is hardy in city conditions, and endures cold. As early as 1740 it was introduced to western Europe, where it is spreading rapidly.