Scientific Name
Quercus rubra
Northern red oaks are among the largest trees on the Regis campus. Oaks in general are long-lived, and their lifespans often exceed 300 years in their natural habitat. For northern red oak, their natural habitat is most of the eastern half of the U.S. The Colorado champions reach around 95 feet tall, but more often open-grown landscape trees mature 15 to 20 feet shorter. In a native forest habitat with competition, they can grow well over 100 feet tall. Given enough room, these trees can develop a canopy spread comparable to their height, due to their rugged branching structure and strong horizontals. As a tree for urban sites, it performs well, though it’s not exceptionally drought-resistant or tolerant of alkaline soils. For these reasons, the norther red oak was considered a risky choice in the early years of tree planting in Denver. It also had a perceived vulnerability to very low winter temperatures and a slow growth rate. These issues proved to be overblown, caused partly by trees not originating from seed sourced from the more northern parts of the native range. Now, we can find large northern red oaks around the city. In fact, this tree species usually grows reasonably quickly, contrary to what many people believe about oaks.
Northern red oak foliage is what most people think oak leaves should look like: large with distinct pointed lobing, in this case with the lobes having bristle tips, which is a characteristic shared among all the oaks in the red group (unlike those of the white group). In the fall, the leaves typically turn a handsome red-orange color, usually later than most other deciduous trees, and they may remain on the tree for an extended period. Northern red oak acorns, which are round, fat and have flat saucer-shaped caps, require two growing seasons to mature, and are very bitter-tasting because of a high tannin content. The acorns can be made edible, though, by repeated soaking in water. The bark is generally rough or furrowed but may display some sizeable, smooth gray areas.