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Northern Red Oak
There is only one red oak in the Park, in the southeast triangle, easily identified by its leaves and acorns. See Wikipedia entry here.
The northern red oak, or champion oak, is a native of North America, in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada. It grows best in good, slightly acidic soil.
Slender red oak in southeast triangle
Red oak factoids:
Sometimes called the "northern" red oak to distinguish it from the southern red oak, also known as the Spanish oak (Quercus falcata)
Called the "red" oak because of the fall color and also due to the hint of red in the leaf veins on the underside of the leaves.
Its acorns are a food for squirrels, and if the acorns are chopped up and leached in water to remove the bitter tannins, can be consumed by humans.
Red oak acorns have tiny hairs on the inner surface of their acorn caps, whereas white oak acorns are hairless.
Trees that shed their leaves in the fall are called deciduous trees. Oaks are deciduous, but the dead oak leaves often stay on the tree through the winter until new leaf buds form in the spring (a trait called marcescence). Beeches similarly hold on to dead leaves.
Some oaks, like the white oak, make acorns every season. The red oak makes a crop of acorns every other season. The tree flowers every year, but in the first year of the cycle the acorns are tiny stubs by fall, and only fully mature the following autumn. The red oak and other two-year oaks like the black oak, pin oak, and scarlet oak tend to have pointy leaves, while the one-year oak leaves have more rounded tips. Our tree produces in odd-numbered years.
Red oak leaves are more pointed at the tips than other oaks
Male flowers on catkins on April 16.
Free-standing red oaks attain reproductive age at about 25-30 years.
Red oaks have separate male and female flowers on the same branch. The male flowers are quite conspicuous on their dangling catkins. The tiny red female flowers will generate an acorn if fertilized.
Oak fruit, also called an acorn, in August.
Botany 101 Bonus
Trees are not mobile. They cannot walk away from insect pests or competing plants. For this reason they often contain within their roots, stems, and leaves chemicals that are distasteful or toxic to insects. Some trees also contain chemicals that inhibit the growth of surrounding plants. These plants that inhibit the growth of other plants via chemicals are termed allelopathic.
The exemplar of a strongly allelopathic plant is the black walnut tree, under which almost nothing will grow. You wouldn't want to plant shade-loving plants or even grass under a black walnut. There are many exceptions in biology, and even near the strongly allelopathic black walnut, some species, like our Park's honey locusts, can grow. There is a constant arms race over evolutionary time between plant defenses and other plants' counter-strategies.
The red oak is moderately allelopathic, with the allelopathic chemicals contained in roots, stems, and leaves.
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juu ya ukurasa Kaskazini Red Oak Kuna tu moja nyekundu oak katika Hifadhi, katika pembetatu kusini mashariki, kwa urahisi kutambuliwa kwa majani yake na acorns. Tazama Wikipedia hapa. Mti wa mwaloni wa kaskazini, au mwaloni wa mashindano, ni wa asili ya Amerika Kaskazini, kaskazini-mashariki mwa Marekani na kusini-mashariki mwa Kanada. Mti huo hukua vizuri katika udongo mzuri wenye asidi kidogo. "Mti wa mwaloni mwekundu wa ""Red Oak"" (kwa Kiingereza: Red Oak Factoid) ni mti wa mwaloni mwekundu wa kaskazini unaojulikana kama ""Quercus falcata"" kwa sababu ya rangi yake ya majani na kwa sababu ya rangi nyekundu kwenye mishipa ya majani." Matofaa ya mti huo ni chakula cha chui, na ikiwa matofaa hayo yanakatwa na kuingizwa ndani ya maji ili kuondoa tannini kali, yanaweza kuliwa na wanadamu. Mialoni ya mwaloni mwekundu ina nywele ndogo-ndogo kwenye sehemu ya ndani ya kofia zao, ilhali mialoni ya mwaloni mweupe haina nywele. Miti inayopoteza majani yake wakati wa vuli huitwa miti ya majani. Miti ya mwaloni huanguka majani, lakini majani ya mwaloni yaliyokufa mara nyingi hubaki kwenye mti huo wakati wa majira ya baridi kali hadi majani mapya yanapoanza kuota katika majira ya kuchipua (sifa iitwayo marcescence). Vivyo hivyo, mianzi huendelea kushikilia majani yaliyokufa. Miti fulani ya mwaloni, kama vile mwaloni mweupe, hutokeza matango kila msimu. Mti wa mwaloni mwekundu hutoa mazao ya mialoni kila msimu mwingine. Mti huo huchanua maua kila mwaka, lakini katika mwaka wa kwanza wa mzunguko huo, matawi yake huwa madogo sana kufikia vuli, na hufikia ukomavu kamili tu katika vuli inayofuata. Mti wa mwaloni mwekundu na miti mingine ya miaka miwili kama vile mwaloni mweusi, mwaloni mwekundu, na mwaloni mwekundu huwa na majani yenye ncha, huku majani ya mwaloni wa mwaka mmoja yakiwa na ncha zenye umbo la mviringo. Mti wetu hutoa mazao katika miaka isiyo ya kawaida. Majani ya mwaloni mwekundu yana nyuso zaidi kuliko ya mwaloni mwingine. Miti ya mwaloni inayosimama peke yake hufikia umri wa kuzaa inapokuwa na umri wa miaka 25-30. Miti ya mwaloni mwekundu ina maua ya kiume na ya kike tofauti kwenye tawi moja. Maua ya kiume huonekana waziwazi kwenye vichaka vyao vilivyoinuka. Maua madogo mekundu ya kike yatazaa shina ikiwa yatazaliwa. Matunda ya mwaloni, yanayoitwa pia acorn, mnamo Agosti. Botanika 101: Miti ya Bonus haisafiri Hawawezi kuepuka wadudu wadudu au mimea inayoshindana nao. Kwa sababu hiyo mara nyingi mizizi, shina, na majani yao huwa na kemikali zisizopendeza au zenye sumu kwa wadudu. Miti fulani pia ina kemikali zinazozuia ukuzi wa mimea iliyo karibu nayo. Mimea hiyo inayozuia ukuzi wa mimea mingine kupitia kemikali huitwa allelopathic. Mfano wa mmea wenye allelopathy yenye nguvu ni mti wa karanga mweusi, ambao chini yake hakuna kitu kitakachokua. Hupaswi kupanda mimea inayopenda kivuli au hata nyasi chini ya karanga nyeusi. Kuna tofauti nyingi katika biolojia, na hata karibu na walnut nyeusi yenye allelopathic, baadhi ya spishi, kama vile nzige wa asali wa Hifadhi yetu, zinaweza kukua. Kuna mbio za silaha za daima katika wakati wa mageuzi kati ya ulinzi wa mimea na mikakati ya mimea mingine ya kukabiliana. Mti wa mwaloni mwekundu una kemikali za allelopathic zilizo katika mizizi, shina, na majani. chini ya ukurasa