Short Description
The Northern red oak is an up to 50 m tall deciduous tree with a conical crown.
The leaves have pointed, serrated lobes and a stalk. They grow alternately on the branch. In autumn, leaves turn reddish to yellow.
The bark remains smooth and grey for a long time; in older trees, it develops shallow vertical fissures.
The tree has male and female flowers. The male flowers are arranged in long drooping catkins and are greenish-yellow. The female flowers are noticeably more inconspicuous, slightly red and found at the tips of the new shoots.
The nut fruits are known as acorns. They are oval and sit inside a shallow cupule. Several individual fruits are clustered on the branch in short, thick seed heads.
Features
Northern red oak
Quercus rubra
leaves with pointed lobes
In the city
Northern red oaks are common trees in forests and parks. They are popular because of their striking autumn colours. It prefers damp to dry and light deciduous forests.
Fun Facts
Its fruits are only ripe in the second year.
It flowers from April to May.
- Endangerment level Germany: not evaluated
It originates from eastern North America and has become established in Europe since the end of the 17th century. It is a non-native plant (neophyte).
It grows very quickly. Its strongly grained wood is valued for furniture and parquet.
Sources
Blatt, A, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus_rubra_(16).JPG
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Frucht, Botaurus, PD, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus-rubra-fruits-11-10-2007-080.jpg
männliche Blüte, Imc, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus_rubra_catkins.jpg
Aas, G. & Riedmiller, A. (2002) Laubbäume. Bestimmen – Kennenlernen – Schützen, Bindlach: Gondrom Verlag.
Amann, G. & Richter, P. (1962) Bäume und Sträucher des Waldes, Melsungen: Verlag J. Neumann – Neudamm.
Böhlmann, D. (2015) Laubbäume temperierter Klimate mit ihrer Artenvielfalt, Berlin: Patzer Verlag.
Mitchell, A. (1975) Die Wald- und Parkbäume Europas. Ein Bestimmungsbuch, Hamburg und Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.
Quartier, A. (1989) Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.
Roloff, A. (2013) Bäume in der Stadt. Besonderheiten - Funktion - Nutzen - Arten - Risiken, Stuttgart: Verlag Eugen Ulmer.
Page „Roteiche“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 08.02.2016, 16:55 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roteiche&oldid=151243433 (Accessed: 26.05.2016).