Oak identification

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DropTyne
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Oak identification

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:46 am

Ok, so I can easily identify red vs white oaks and other trees when the leaves are on the trees, but how do you identify them when the leaves are off before green up. I know oaks typically hold their brown leaves throughout winter which has been the way that I have been identifying them thus far, but is this always true? How do you indentify them? Bark? Or other? Pics and explanations from those that are good at identifying specific types of trees would be helpful.....

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OH nontypical
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby OH nontypical » Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:49 am

Bark texture etc. Many DNR sites have sections with pics of native trees and flowers. Study hard...lol

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Southern Man
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Southern Man » Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:53 am

White oaks will have a silver colored bark. Compared to a red oak the white oaks look almost white. Red oaks are darker. That's the easiest way for me. Also the limbs of a mature white oak are more perpendicular to the truck (on mature White Oaks) whereas the limbs of a red oak grow more in an upward direction rather than out away fro the trunk.

White Oak Bark looks flaky but Red Oak Bark is not...

White Oak Bark
Image

Red Oak Bark
Image
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Bigburner » Fri Jan 09, 2015 5:45 am

Buds or bark or leaf arrangement in terms of how they grow of the branches (opposite, alternate). a good dendro book or dichotomous key is always best if unsure.
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Kidd » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:14 am

White oak leaves have rounded lobes or ends and red oak leaves have pointed lobes. That's the easiest way I have found to tell the two apart

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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Kidd » Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:28 am

Check the ground for leaves under the tree

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wolfie729
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby wolfie729 » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:10 am

Kidd wrote:White oak leaves have rounded lobes or ends and red oak leaves have pointed lobes. That's the easiest way I have found to tell the two apart

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Someone told me this once going with what you said the white man shoots round bullets and the red man shoots pointy arrows it made it easy for me to identify thwm and i never forgot it

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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby JoeRE » Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:30 am

We also have pin oaks and burr oaks around here. Thier barks are similar to red oaks but the trees tend to be gnarly and not clean limbed. Their leaves are rounded like white oaks.

What I would recommend is pay attention to tree barks when leaves are on the tree, that will help you make a correlation. Most barks are easily distinguishable once you move up that first learning curve....pretty quickly you will be able to tell the difference between different kinds of oaks, maples, cherries, hackbery, elms, hickories, walnut, basswood etc at a glance.


Kidd wrote:Check the ground for leaves under the tree

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Yea that makes it easier....
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:29 am

Just as Souther Man pictured. I typically don't look at leaves anymore. Once you can distinguish the difference in the bark, it's so much easier than looking at the leaves that are sometimes 30'+ Off the ground.
I really started paying attention to pin oaks in the last few years. Deer on a couple of my public spots tend to prefer these as much as white oaks. Don't know why, and never looked into it.

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Southern Man
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Southern Man » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:51 am

dirt nap giver wrote:Just as Souther Man pictured. I typically don't look at leaves anymore. Once you can distinguish the difference in the bark, it's so much easier than looking at the leaves that are sometimes 30'+ Off the ground.
I really started paying attention to pin oaks in the last few years. Deer on a couple of my public spots tend to prefer these as much as white oaks. Don't know why, and never looked into it.



Yea after a while it's pretty easy to identify all the trees around if you pay a bit of attnetion.

It's interesting to see how the deer adjust to the oaks as different ones start to drop. That is if you have a lot of oaks. We do here.
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby exojam » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:23 am

Southern Man wrote:White oaks will have a silver colored bark. Compared to a red oak the white oaks look almost white. Red oaks are darker. That's the easiest way for me. Also the limbs of a mature white oak are more perpendicular to the truck (on mature White Oaks) whereas the limbs of a red oak grow more in an upward direction rather than out away fro the trunk.

White Oak Bark looks flaky but Red Oak Bark is not...

White Oak Bark
Image

Red Oak Bark
Image


This definatley makes it easier for me. Thanks.

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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby mag1 » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:39 am

How often do white oaks produce? Is there a way to tell if they will produce next year? I have a new Area that has a scattering of whites in it And was wondering if there would be a wah to check while spring scouting. Also, does anyone know what type of fertilizer would be good for a white oak?

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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby BCam » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:57 am

JoeRE wrote:We also have pin oaks and burr oaks around here. Thier barks are similar to red oaks but the trees tend to be gnarly and not clean limbed. Their leaves are rounded like white oaks.

What I would recommend is pay attention to tree barks when leaves are on the tree, that will help you make a correlation. Most barks are easily distinguishable once you move up that first learning curve....pretty quickly you will be able to tell the difference between different kinds of oaks, maples, cherries, hackbery, elms, hickories, walnut, basswood etc at a glance.


Kidd wrote:Check the ground for leaves under the tree

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Yea that makes it easier....



I thought pin oaks were in the red family with pointed lobes?

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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby BCam » Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:00 am

Kidd wrote:Check the ground for leaves under the tree

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I agree with this. As you get familiar with the leaves you can start taking it a step further and recognizing the different barks and the varieties of reds and whites.

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Southern Man
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Re: Oak identification

Unread postby Southern Man » Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:10 am

mag1 wrote:How often do white oaks produce? Is there a way to tell if they will produce next year? I have a new Area that has a scattering of whites in it And was wondering if there would be a wah to check while spring scouting. Also, does anyone know what type of fertilizer would be good for a white oak?

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White Oaks produce every other year. Don't know if you can see the acorns in the spring or not. You can in mid summer tho.
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