Quercus coccinea |
Quercus laurifolia |
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scarlet oak |
diamond-leaf oak, laurel oak, obtusa oak, swamp laurel oak, water oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous, to 30 m; lower trunk without stubs of dead branches. | Trees, tardily deciduous, to 40 m. Bark dark brown to black, ridges flat, furrows deep. |
Bark | dark gray to dark brown, irregularly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orangish pink. |
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Twigs | reddish brown, (1-)2-3.5 mm diam., glabrous. |
red-brown, (1-)1.5-2.5 mm diam., glabrous. |
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 rhombic or broadly elliptic to obovate, occasionally oblong or spatulate, 30-120 × 15-45 mm, thin, base attenuate or cuneate, rarely obtuse, margins entire with 1 apical awn, apex obtuse or rounded; surfaces abaxially glabrous, adaxially glabrous, veins raised. |
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. |
biennial; cup shallowly saucer-shaped to deeply bowl-shaped, 3.5-9 mm high × 11-17 mm wide, covering 1/4-1/2 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent at least 1/2 distance to rim, scale tips appressed, acute or attenuate; nut globose or ovoid, 8.5-16 × 10-16 mm, glabrate, scar diam. 6.5-11.5 mm. |
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. |
buds dark red-brown, ovoid to subconic, 2.5-6 mm, distinctly 5-angled in cross section, glabrous or with tuft of reddish hairs at apex. |
2n | = 24. |
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Quercus coccinea |
Quercus laurifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Poor soils, well-drained uplands, dry slopes, and ridges, occasionally on poorly drained sites | Sandy flood plains and bottoms, riverbanks, and terraces, occasionally on poorly drained uplands |
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | 0-150 m (0-500 ft) |
Distribution |
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
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AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
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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.) |
Quercus laurifolia apparently flowers two weeks earlier than sympatric Quercus hemisphaerica (W. H. Duncan and M. B. Duncan 1988). It reportedly hybridizes with Q. falcata, Q. incana, and Q. nigra (H. A. Fowells 1965); with Q. hemisphaerica, Q. marilandica, Q. myrtifolia, Q. phellos, and Q. shumardii (D. M. Hunt 1989); and with Q. velutina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Q. coccinea var. tuberculata | Q. obtusa, Q. rhombica |
Name authority | Münchhausen: Hausvater 5(1): 254. (1770) | Michaux: Hist. Chênes Amér., no. 10, plate 17. (1801) |
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