Scarlet Oak

(Quercus coccinea)

Date Planted: October 2000

Family: Fagaceae

Hardiness: Native; hardy in the Gorham, ME area, Zone 3-7

Mature Dimensions: 70-100' tall with a 50' width

Habit: Open and rounded in maturity

Bark: Grayish brown with shallow ridges

Buds: Ovate with a blunt apex, ¼ inch long; reddish brown and layered

Leaves: Simple, alternate, 3-6 inches long, 2-5 inches wide; 7 bristled deep lobes, dark lustrous green in summer, scarlet in fall. Dry leaves persist well into the winter.

Flowers: Monoecious; staminate (male) flowers are either pendulous clustered catkins or solitary; solitary staminate flowers are surrounded by a 4-7 lobed calyx which encloses 6 stamens. Pistillate (female) flowers are either solitary or in clustered spikes from the axils of new leaves; solitary flowers consist of a 6-lobed calyx surrounding a 3-celled ovary

Fruit: Can be solitary or paired; 1 inch by 1 inch, brown, short stalked, oval and ½ enclosed in a deep cap

Pests/ Diseases: Eastern tent caterpillar, gypsy moth

Reference Pages: Dirr-p.828