Black Oak
Quercus velutina Lam.
Also known as Yellow Oak.
Mature Size: Mature Size: 50 to 80 feet in height and 1 to 2½ feet in diameter.
Form: Tapering, limby trunk and open, irregular crown.
Habitat: Variable; common in dry woods and along ridges, but grows best on rich, well-drained soils.
Leaves
Alternate, simple, 4 to 10 inches long, basically oval with 5 to 7 pointed, bristle-tipped lobes, shiny green above, paler with scruffy fuzz along leaf veins on the underside; sun leaves have deep sinuses between lobes, and shade leaves have very shallow sinuses; fall color dull red.
Flowers
Males on slender, yellow-green catkins; females reddish green, on short spikes; both appearing in spring with the leaves.
Fruit
½ to ¾ inch oval or rounded acorn, half enclosed in a deep, scaly, bowl-shaped cup; maturing in two seasons.
Bark
On young trees, gray and smooth; on older trees, thick, very rough, nearly black and deeply furrowed vertically with horizontal breaks. The inner bark is yellow- orange (as opposed to pinkish in other oaks) and very bitter-tasting.
Twigs
Thick, red-brown to gray-green, usually smooth, but rapidly growing twigs may be hairy; buds relatively large (¼ to ½ inch), buff-colored, fuzzy, pointed and distinctly angular.
Values and Uses
The wood is hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained, red-brown with a thin outer edge of paler sapwood. It is marketed with red oak and used for flooring, furniture, interior finish, fence posts and railroad ties. The acorns are a valuable food source for wildlife.
Did You Know?
The bark of black oak was once a major source of tannins for tanning leather, a bright yellow dye and for medicines.
