Fast growth in trees has been considered something like 6 ft. per year or more, some kinds of trees even grow significantly faster. When you look at the entire range of what exists, a tree like black gum is nowhere near the upper end.

There is of course, no generally recognized terminology for tree growth rates that everyone follows.

Prairie Flameleaf Sumac has the most dependable and reddest red leaf color attainable in Z8A central Tx. It is however a small tree (or large bush). It should grow well in most parts of the state and doesn't have the typical sumac tendency to sucker.
If he's in east Tx., the reddest color and most dependable probably would be blackgum for something larger than 15ft.

Most sources have growth rates about like this:

Slow growth: less than 1.00 foot a year.
Medium growth: 1.00 to 1.99 feet a year.
Fast growth: 2.00 to 3.99 feet a year.
Very fast growth: 4.00 to 6.00 feet a year (made by me).
Super fast growth: more than 6.00 feet a year (made by me).

Blackgum usually has slow to medium growth (several inches to under 2 feet a year) unless a person has super rich soil or the Blackgum has some kind of unique odd genetics or something.

Please no Chinese pistache, check your do not plant list!

October Glory Red Maple and black gum/ tupelo should have reliable fall color there as would Shumard oak and
Trident maples can be nice too.
Sweetgums can be intense and reliable too but the actual color can vary from tree to tree or branch to branch.

I'd add Quercus coccinea to the list.
Second the sumac and sourwood. I'll also risk the wrath of gumball haters by mentioning Liquidambar styraciflua, which has spectacular color for us in NC zone 8.

Acer barbatum is a nice tree if you can keep it moist, but ours turn more yellow & orange than red.

My Nyssa sylvatica have put on about 50cm per year in fairly poor soil. Not bad, though not as fast as most maples or many oaks. Quercus falcata have grown over 1m for me in the same conditions.
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Sassafras also comes to mind but it's not really all red and it's not like you're ever going to find one at a garden center waiting for you to take it home and plant it.

sweet gum depending on the tree and black gum/tupelo.

Here's a red maple, either an October Glory or a Sunset (no tag) in my yard now

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Have 2 baby October Glories just turning brilliant reds. A pin oak that turned the most vivid transluscent scarlet overnight. A sweetgum that is a riot of burgundy, maroon, yellow, gold, green, red, and orange. 3 baby swamp tupelos that went yellow, orange, red but lost their leaves fast.

Picture above of fairly large tree transplanted Dec 05 and and promptly died way back, hoping it comes back but its trunk is heavily damaged in move. Leaves on this tree stay bright red and on for a very long time.

i wonder if cornus florida grows well there? saw one this morning that impressed me with its "redness".

I agree with the Sweetgum too. There are some near here that turn a solid red for about a month. Here is a photo of a couple of them that I took today. This is likely pretty near the end of the red for them this year.
Will
p.s. For the background lookers, thats the former (relocated) Medical Center of Independence (MO.).
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Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii) and Pin Oak (Q. palustris) both don't have reliably good fall colors, with many often being yellow or mostly brown. So, you would have to go to the nursery and select a good red fall colored one to try and ensure you get a good red fall coloring specimen.
Scarlet Oak(Q. coccinea) is a good reliably bright red fall colorer, without the high variability seen in Shumard of Pin Oaks. There are also many cultivars of Red Maple (Acer rubrum) which have reliable red fall colors. There are also several cultivars of White Ash (Fraxinus americana) which have good reliable red fall colors. White Oak (Q. alba) also usually has good bright red fall colors and grows very well in East Texas, but not always so well in Central Texas. Another one you might consider is one of the Caddo Maple cultivars (Acer saccharum (barbatum) var. caddo). The cultivar 'John Pair' was selected in part for it's good red fall colors, while 'Autumn Splender' has brilliant red-orange fall colors. The Caddo Maples are drought tolerant heat lovers and do much better than most Maples in the South-Central part of the USA, but are often difficult to find in nurseries. Chisos Red Oak (Q. gravesii) is another outstanding reliably vivid dark red fall colorer, but can be hard to find in nurseries. Although I've seen it in more and more nurseries in Texas in the past several years. I also agree with the Blackgum tree recommendation for fall colors, with many producing find fiery red fall colors, but they are sensitive to soil pH as is White Oak. Finally Texas Red Oak (Q. buckleyi(often times listed as Q. texana in Texas)) usually has a nice red fall color, but there can be some variability so picking a good red one at the nursery would be recommended.

The White Ash cultivars often progress from red to dark red and finally more purple-red fall colors, much like the fall colors of the infamous 'Bradford' Pears.

I think the 'John Pair' cultivar of Caddo Maple, a number of Red Maple culitvars, Chisos Red Oak (I've seen just spectacular fall colors on cultivated specimens in Oklahoma), and Scarlet Oak produce the brightest most reliable red fall colors out of all of these. While the White Ash cultivars produce the most similar red and red-purple fall colors to 'Bradford' Pears. Texas Red Oak and White Oak both can have equally as bright red fall colors or more of a brick-red fall color. Either way, I think all of these surpass 'Bradford' pear in fall colors.

I am impressed by the color of 'Fire Dragon' maple.

How about silver maple? I bet they have beautiful fall foliage too.

The so-called Chinese Pistache is native to the Philippines (islands) and some Chinese regions.

They comes as a male tree and female tree separately.
Most gardeners only want male tree for the female tree tends to be smaller and drop fruits(messy). This is not a pest tree because their reproduction is easily controlled. Just keep the male trees.

Recently, several California nurseries put a male strain with distinctly superior fall color into production by grafting. Keith Davies is such a pistache with the attributes you need for a wonderful garden tree. It is moderate fast. So, if you have this special male, it does not grow as fast.

This tree has gained a lot of popularity over the past several years and for good reason. Once established, it tolerates drought and diverse soil conditions (except for wet areas) and is one of the most colorful trees in autumn with brilliant hues of red-orange or yellow. The color change is slow and therefore provides nice color for a lengthy period. Younger trees are vase shaped but become rounder and spreading as they mature. In time, it provides decent shade.

I love the shape too. A mature male tree:

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Will (shortleaf), good to see you again!

As for reddest leaf, there are lots of reds screaming around here now: red maple cultivars, freeman maple cultivars, even a few sourwoods and dogwoods are quite red. Last year, my blueberries were red hot!

Thanks Esh, its nice to be here!
Here is some Bradford Pears that are in my Photobucket album, and in the below link.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v243/w4i0a/broken%20Bradford%20Pears/
But be warned, it is mostly photos of broken Bradford Pears, as it is commonly known as a foreign vile weed that self-destructs in most places.
But it does have its pretty moments I suppose. But the Bradford Fall colors are more variable. They seem kind of multi-colored in the Fall, from red to yellow to purple or some combination of that, never any one color that I've seen on them.
Here is a photo of the same Sweetgums as in the above photo but 5 years ago and on the other side of the parking lot. All those Sweetgums there are this red, it is really stunning, too bad the property is in limbo.
That building in the background is still The Medical Center of Independence (well, when it was open). Those are the Sweetgums on the right, that must be a Sugar Maple on the left as their Fall color is usually an iridescent yellow/orange.
That is a pretty Pistache tree, that is a tree you don't often see around here (at least I don't).
Will
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Here is a link that might be useful: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v243/w4i0a/broken%20Bradford%20Pears/

Are these maples? (images taken at West Hill, Beijing. Zone 7)

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snasxs-

The first picture appears to be Shantung maple (acer truncatum). Yellow is their typical fall color. "Fire Dragon" discovered by Metro Maples in Ft Worth, Texas is consistently red in the fall.

2nd picture is japanese maple.

3rd picture - I have no clue.

I agree with lou_midlothian_tx

#3 Looks like Morus rubra. I can see a few lobed leaves up near the top of the canopy. It's possible it's the invasive Morus alba, but that usually has more lobed leaves than this one does. The location of where this is growing can also narrow down which Morus it is.

kman, the third one is a type of Cotinus coggygria. It is not a Morus.

snasxs,

I overlooked your location for these trees(which would of eliminated Morus rubra) and thought I saw lobed leaves, which after downloading the photo and blowing it up, were just either multiple leaves overlapping each other or with parts eaten or ripped out of them etc.

PS. If you knew what the tree was, then why did you make a post asking what it was?

Kman, Morus and Cotinus have significantly different looks. I did not know what it was when I posted the pictures. Some GW friends saw my pictures, and emailed me the answers.

I went to check and verified it. The plant in picture #3 is Cotinus coggygria. This type has orange to red fall foliage. A purple cultivar is named "smoke tree."

Of course, everyone makes mistakes. But to be honest, I cannot stop laughing for this one. Are you handed down a AMW list to match everything I post here?

Of course Morus and Coggyria are quite different and in person it would be extremely easy to differentiate the 2, but with a relatively low resolution photo on the internet it's not always so easy to pick out the appropriate details(like toothed leaves vs. non-toothed leaves in this case). Also, your photo #3 looks very yellow with no signs of red nor any orange really, which is not typical fall colors for most all Coggyria species or cultivars(in fact I have not seen one with yellow fall colors, but they may be out there), but is much more typical of Morus sps.

What's AMW ?

I just respond to posts where I think I have something to offer, if I've responded to all of your posts, it's just coincidence. Don't worry, I'm not stalking you or anything! lol

Here is a Red Oak across the street from me. I don't know for sure if it is a Quercus rubra or a Quercus coccinea. But it is extremely red this year. I think the tree behind it is a Post Oak (Quercus stellata).

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Snaxs,

Silver maples typically turn a rather dull yellow in autumn.

esh_ga, for what it's worth, the lobing on that brilliantly red Oak don't look right for Northern Red Oak (Q. rubra).

kman, I have been waiting for some leaves to fall from that tree and today I finally got some. Looks like Quercus coccinea instead of Q. rubra (the color was a bit intense, I agree). Most of the leaves are still on the tree and they have aged to a nice burgundy now.

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Habit not right for red oak either. Silver maple often has a nice mix of different colors around here.

Bur oaks (Quercus macrocarpa) and Chinkapin oaks QQ. muhlenberghii) from the far western and southern portions of their native ranges also typically have a nice red fall coloration.

That's interesting. Down here Bur Oak just goes from green to brown. One of the very few reasons people sometimes plant a different oak, as it has no fall color other than brown.
There are a few Chinkakpins down here but I have never seen any color on any of them to notice. Will try to pay more attention this year and see.

In addition to having a mix of showy species New England has a climate and soils lending themselves to spectacular fall color displays. Less good/absent color farther south partly due to environment there.

scotjute:

http://www.oikostreecrops.com/store/product.asp?P_ID=415&PT_ID=69&strPageHistory=cat

MM-Miguel Marquez Seed Strain-Selected seedling from a tree originally found wild in Texas. Purplish-red fall color. Thick glossy foliage. Better heat and alkaline tolerance compared to ECOS. Produces a good crop of acorns compared to other chinkapin oaks we have collected from

http://seedlings.uidaho.com/nurseryshop/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1&sku=QUMA20

Here is a link that might be useful: Montana bur oaks

bboy, what did you mean by "Habit not right for red oak either" (I assume you are referring to my picture)? How would the habit of Quercus rubra be different (more rounded?)? I'm interested in learning the differences.

esh_ga,

Yep those leaves are very typical looking for Q. coccinea.

Wow! What will they think of next! A Bur Oak with red leaves in the fall.
Marvelous! Wonder if I can order some of those?

Scot,

Of course you can! They will ship to Texas (and most everywhere else, too).

I planted a chinkapin oak at the neighborhood park across the street from my house last month and now it's showing dark red leaves. Wow.... I've never seen that kind of color on Chinkapin. Just ugly yellow-brown leaves. It's making me want to dig it up and move to my property...

I suspect the color is due to its micro-environment - surrounded by other trees - sheltered from cold and sun.

Red oak has different branching. Good color of scarlet oak shown probably due in large part to its genetics. While it varies somewhat, or course, bright red characteristic of species, hence scarlet oak.

This is shantung maple 'Fire Dragon' which consistent produce red fall color. The typical fall color is yellow.

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I've never seen a chinkapin oak with red fall color. Hopefully it will be like this every year but we will see...

Wow, your red dragon is like wine-red with bright golden lace. How interesting! Do these leaves last long?

What's your definition of "long"? :) They started about 3 weeks ago. It has been gradual change to that kind of red. I was expecting brighter red but at least it is red. We don't typically get very colorful around here so I'll take it!

Already 3 weeks, that is great!

Usually small sticks lose leaves really fast :-)

Several replies indicated that Trident Maples have nice (red?) fall color. I have had one for about 4 years. I have not seen reds yet. This picture is from about a week ago and is the best color I have seen on this tree so far. My tree is probably a straight species.

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Probably genetics. I've seen pure red leaves on Trident maple at Metro Maples in Ft Worth, Texas. I've also noticed that there is a lot of colors in Dallas-FT worth area right now. I don't think I've seen so many trees with red to orange color. Must be all the rain we had after 2 years of severe drought and good fall weather. We're not really known for the fall color so i have to say I'm very impressed.

Since with other maple species seedlings can be red or yellow, variation in this one would not be completely unexpected.

Now check these images out ... lol.
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Pictures taken in China.

Wow some great pictures in this thread! Jeff, I was thinking dogwood myself. They are always impressively red around here regardless of heat and drought. Here is an old one in my front yard(11/12/07) with an accompanying red maple in the background.........
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The dogwood was planted when the house was built in 1959. I planted the maple many years later.

Nice photos, thanks all.
I made that last one my desktop background.
My computer got infested with spam recently and it turned my desktop into one big spam web page link (so now I have pretty trees instead) and I couldn't change it back because whatever it was took the control panel a long time ago. One thing is for sure if you have hi-speed internet and use Internet Explorer (which is a target for spam, get Mozilla Firefox) get a firewall, (like the free one I now use, zonealarm).

esh ga, the lobes on the leaves appear as deep as the lobes on my Scarlet oak tree. Only thing is my Scarlet oak's leaves never appear as light of red as the tree in your first posted photo.

Maybe it is a sport of a scarlet oak tree, which has crossed with a different type of red oak.

It appears that red oak freely hybrids with other red oak so sooner or later, we'll never have pure red oak species...

Like for an example...

This is red oak with green leaves in late december while other red oaks have either lost leaves or hanging on dead leaves...

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I thought it might be Q. Canbyi but from what I've read, the leaves are small and I don't recall them being small. They could be Q. Shumardii x Canbyi hybrid, who knows?