The red oak is the tree most likely to be mistaken for the black oak. The
bark is brown, with a decided red tinge. The twigs are also reddish, and
the wood is red-brown. The inner bark has the same tinge instead of the
orange-coloured lining the black oak bark has.
The red oak is a large, stately tree, sometimes 150 feet in height, and
far more symmetrical than the black oak. Its leaves vary greatly in the
depth of their marginal clefts, but in general they are oval in outline,
and their lobes and sinuses are triangular. These lobes always point
forward, rather than outward, along the sides of the leaf, and they
always end in the sharp, spiny points that belong to the leaves of all
the trees that fall into the Black Oak Group. Red oak leaves are thinner
than those of black oak, and not so harsh when crumpled in the hand.
Their linings are pale green and smooth in summer. Their autumn colour is
deep red.
The buds of the red oak are pointed, smooth, reddish, and about
one-fourth of an inch long. They are much smaller, and lack the down of
the buds of the black oak.
Red oak acorns are the most distinct feature of this species. They are
large, often over an inch in length, and broad, and they sit in saucers,
instead of cups. These saucers are made of close scales, and they curl in
closely at the top as if to tighten their hold on the nut, which extends
two-thirds its height above this rim. The kernel is white, and extremely
bitter.