Oaks of the World

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  Quercus rubra
Author L. 1753
Synonyms ambigua Michx.1812, not Bonpl. 1809
borealis Michx.f.1817
borealis var. maxima (Marsh.) Sarg. 1916
coccinea var. ambigua (Michx.) A.Gray 1867
maxima (Marshall) Ashe 1916
rubra var. maxima Marshall 1785
rubra var. ambigua (Michx.) Fernald in A.Gray 1909
Local names northern red oak ;
Range SE Canada; Eastern USA; 0-1800 m; introduced in Europe in 1724;
Growth habit 25-30 m (smaller in cultivation); stout trunk; branches often low on the trunk;
Leaves 10-20 x 7-12 cm; oblong; apex pointed; base broadly cuneate; margin with each side 3-5 lobulate, bristle-tipped lobes and shallow sinuses; dark lustrous green, hairless above (except when young, with uniseriate and solitary hairs on veins, and scattered rosulate ones); pale dull green beneath, with some axillary tufts of brown stipitate fascicled hairs; red at fall; petiole hairless, 2.5-5 cm, dotted with red;
Flowers spring; male catkins slender, 5-8 cm long;
Fruits acorn 1.5-2.8 cm long; ovoid or subglobose; singly or paired; cup shallow, at the base of the nut; with rusty brown rounded scales; maturing in 2 years;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark silvery grey or dark grey, with broad ridges, shiny, narrowly fissured; twigs thick, red brown, hairless; buds red brown, ellipsoid, 4-7 mm long, hairless or nearly so;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; prefers lime-free soils, even sandy or rocky ones; fast growing; living up to 200 years;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 425;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, Series Coccineae;
-- Closely related to
Q.coccinea, but branches of rubra are stouter and horizontal, leaves have shallower sinuses;
-- Hybridizes with Q.coccinea (= x
benderi), Q.ilicifolia (= x fernaldii), Q.imbricaria (= x runcinata), Q.palustris (= x richteri), Q.phellos (= x heterophylla), Q.shumardii (= x riparia), Q.velutina (= x hawkinsiae) ;

Subspecies and
varieties
-- An interesting cultivar, with nice leaves, fast-growing : Q.rubra 'Mauri' : for Jablonski, Schulte&Würth 1995 , it is a hybrid between Q. coccinea, Q. palustris et Q. rubra.

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