Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), also known as common red oak,
eastern red oak, mountain red oak, and gray oak, is widespread in the Eastern United
States and grows on a variety of soils and topography, often forming pure stands.
Moderate to fast growing, this tree is one of the more important lumber species
of oak and is an easily transplanted, popular shade tree with good form and dense
foliage. The sapwood of red oak is white to very light brown, while the heartwood
is reddish brown. Red Oak wood has a course texture; it is heavy, straight-grained,
hard, tough, very stiff, and strong. Fast-grown red oak, with wide rings, is stronger
and heavier than slow-grown red oak.
THE TREE: Red oaks can reach a height of 125 ft (38 m), with large
diameters. The bark is smooth, dark grey to dark brown on young trees; on older
trees the bark is thick and grey to brown; broken by shallow fissures into regular,
flat, smooth-surfaced, vertical plates. The leaves are 5 to 9 inches in length while
being 4 to 6 inches in width, they are broader towards the tip; divided into 7 to
9 lobes, each extending 1/2 way to the mid-rib; each lobe is somewhat coarsely toothed
and bristle-tipped, dull green above, paler below.
WOOD CHARACTERISTICS: The sapwood of red oak is white to very light
brown, while the heartwood is reddish brown. Oak wood has a course texture; it is
heavy, straight-grained, hard, tough, very stiff, and strong. Fast-grown oak, with
wide rings, is stronger and heavier than slow-grown oak.
Northern red oak is an important source of hardwood lumber. Its wood is heavy, hard,
strong, coarse-grained, and at least moderately durable. When properly dried and
treated, oak wood glues well, machines very well, and accepts a variety of finishes.
The wood of northern red oak has been used to make railroad ties, fenceposts, veneer,
furniture, cabinets, paneling, flooring, caskets, and pulpwood. Northern red oak
has a high fuel value and is an excellent firewood.
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION: Northern red oak is widely distributed throughout
much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. It grows from Quebec,
Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick southward to southwestern Georgia and Alabama.
Northern red oak extends westward through Minnesota and Iowa, south through eastern
Nebraska and Kansas to eastern Oklahoma . It occurs locally in eastern and southwestern
Louisiana and western Mississippi.