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scarlet oak

Garry oak, Oregon oak, Oregon white oak

Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m; lower trunk without stubs of dead branches. Trees or shrubs, deciduous, trees to 15(-20) m, with solitary trunks, shrubs to 0.1-3 m, multitrunked.
Bark

dark gray to dark brown, irregularly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orangish pink.

light gray or almost white, scaly.

Twigs

reddish brown, (1-)2-3.5 mm diam., glabrous.

brown, red, or yellowish, 2-4 mm diam., densely puberulent with spreading hairs or glabrate.

Buds

brown or yellowish, ovoid or fusiform and apex acute, 2-12 mm, glandular-puberulent or densely pubescent.

Leaves

blade elliptic to ovate or obovate, 70-160 × 80-130 mm, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 5-9 deep lobes and 18-50 awns, lobes distally expanded, sinuses usually extending more than 1/2 distance to midrib, apex acute;

surfaces abaxially glabrous except for minute axillary tufts of tomentum, adaxially glossy light green, glabrous, secondary veins raised on both surfaces.

blade obovate, elliptic or subrotund, moderately to deeply lobed, 25-120(-140) × 15-85 mm, base rounded-attenuate or cuneate, rarely subcordate, often unequal, margins with sinuses usually reaching more than 1/2 distance to midrib, lobes oblong or spatulate, obtuse, rounded or blunt, larger lobes usually with 2-3 sublobes or teeth, veins often ending in retuse teeth, secondary veins yellowish, 4-7 on each side, the more distal veins often branching within distal lobes, apex broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially light green or waxy yellowish, often felty to touch, densely to sparsely covered with semi-erect or erect, simple and (2-)4-8-rayed, fasciculate hairs 0.1-1 mm, secondary veins raised, adaxially bright or dark green, glossy or somewhat scurfy because of sparse stellate hairs.

Acorns

biennial;

cup turbinate to hemispheric, 7-13 mm high × 16.5-31.5 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface light to dark reddish brown, glossy, glabrous to puberulent, inner surface light brown, glabrous, occasionally with ring of pubescence around scar, scales often tuberculate, base broad, glossy, margins strongly concave with tips tightly appressed, acute to attenuate;

nut oblong to subglobose, 12-22 × 10-21 mm, glabrous, with 1 or more rings of fine pits at apex, scar diam. 6.5-13.5 mm.

1-3, subsessile, rarely on peduncle to 10(-20) mm;

cup saucer-shaped, cup-shaped, or hemispheric, 4-10 mm deep × 12-22 mm wide;

scales yellowish or reddish brown, often long-acute near rim of cup, moderately or scarcely tuberculate, canescent or tomentulose;

nut light brown, oblong to globose, (12-)25-30(-40) × (10-)14-20(-22) mm, apex blunt or rounded, glabrous or often persistently puberulent.

Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

buds dark reddish brown, conic to ovoid, 4-7 mm, noticeably 5-angled in cross section, usually silvery- or tawny-pubescent distal to middle.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Quercus coccinea

Quercus garryana

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Poor soils, well-drained uplands, dry slopes, and ridges, occasionally on poorly drained sites
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trees having acorns with broad, distinctly warty cups are sometimes classified as Quercus coccinea var. tuberculata Sargent.

Quercus coccinea reportedly hybridizes with Q. imbricaria, Q. ilicifolia (= Q. ×robbinsii Trelease), Q. laevis, and Q. palustris (E. J. Palmer 1948) and with Q. phellos, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina (= Q. ×fontana Laughlin).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Quercus garryana (no varieties specified) was used medicinally by Native Americans to treat tuberculosis and as a drink and a rub for mothers before childbirth (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Trees to 15 m or more, trunk usually solitary; buds yellowish or cream, usually fusiform, 6–12 mm, apex acute, densely pubescent; twigs persistently puberulent, with spreading hairs.
var. garryana
1. Shrubs or small trees usually less than 5 m, multitrunked, spreading and clonal; buds reddish brown, ovoid, 2–5 mm, sparsely glandular-puberulent; twigs sparsely puberulent or glabrate, without spreading hairs.
→ 2
2. Leaf blade abaxially velvety to touch, hairs usually 4–6-rayed, rays 0.25–0.5 mm.
var. breweri
2. Leaf blade abaxially not velvety but sometimes felty, hairs 6–8-rayed, rays less than 0.3 mm.
var. semota
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus
Sibling taxa
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Subordinate taxa
Q. garryana var. breweri, Q. garryana var. garryana, Q. garryana var. semota
Synonyms Q. coccinea var. tuberculata Q. douglasii var. neaei, Q. garryana var. jacobi, Q. jacobi, Q. lobata var. breweri, Q. neaei
Name authority Münchhausen: Hausvater 5(1): 254. (1770) Douglas ex Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 159. (1840)
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