The scarlet oak need not be confused with either the red or black oaks,
for it is a far more dainty tree than either in its trim trunk, graceful
curving branches, very slim twigs, and deeply cut leaves. In form, these
leaves are oval, but so much of the “cloth” is cut away by the four or
six deep bays along the sides that a small amount of green is left to do
leaf duty. The slender lobes are strengthened by the branching veins,
each of which ends in a spiny point. These almost skeleton leaves are
beautifully lustrous and thin, a trifle paler beneath and sometimes hairy
tufted at the veins. They are rarely six inches long, and the side lobes
sometimes measure five inches from tip to tip. The leaf stems are long
and flexible, and the whole tree top is as light and feathery and
tremulous in a breeze as that of a honey locust or a willow. In autumn
the scarlet oak blazes like a torch above the duller reds and browns of
the woods, and keeps its brilliancy later than any other oak.
The acorn differs from the black oak in being smaller and daintier, and
in having its cup drawn in tightly at the rim. The scales are smooth and
close-pressed; the kernel white and bitter.