Is this an Oak Tree?

8 years ago

I walked home from the grocery today + noticed a lot of pods on the ground under a tree. Since I was in the middle of making a new wreath for my door I collected some to add to it. At first I thought they were acorns but the entire nut has a bumpy casing totally around it ( unlike most acorn nuts which are only partially covered with a casing). I brought home a leaf to compare online as I thought it was a bur oak leaf but can't find any leaf which looks exactly like it. The leaf is similar to a pin oak tree but the acorn is different.

My photo shows three pods as I found them on the ground along with a nut that I shelled to the left of the leaf. Unfortunately the dried autumn leaf is curled near the top but hopefully you can look past that.

Any ideas what the name of this tree is?

Featured Answer

weedwoman

8 years ago

Overcup oak, Quercus lyrata, maybe. Leaves don't look exactly like the photo but are supposedly very variable.

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Comments (7)

carol23_gw
8 years ago
Acorns remind me of bur oak.
Southern Virginia thanked carol23_gw
Embothrium
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Need more leaves. Also the nuts being enveloped by the cups may not be characteristic of the species (a consistent feature), with additional samples from the same or other trees not being like this.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=302020
Southern Virginia thanked Embothrium
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Southern Virginia
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks people! I had considered the bur oak but as you can see there is a difference. I've actually collected bur acorns too for wreath making. At this time of the year the burr oak acorns have mostly fallen out of their shell whereas this new tree had no casing open yet.

Bur Oak acorns + leaves. I won't be going back to that location until next week but will pick up more leaves then.
windberry zone5a BCCanada
8 years ago
As weedwoman said, Quercus lyrata.
Southern Virginia thanked windberry zone5a BCCanada
Embothrium
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I posted the wrong link. This page has the leaf shape and enclosing acorn cups mentioned right in the key. With Q. lyrata being the second species in the sequence.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=302029

The large acorns with hardened cups that enclose all or most of the nut are diagnostic.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501057

The illustration they are using shows Q. macrocarpa and Q. lyrata beside one another.

http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=41325&flora_id=1
Southern Virginia thanked Embothrium
Southern Virginia
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you everyone! The Overcup oak, Quercus lyrata seems to be the closest to matching . Any ideas on why my acorn shell casings have not opened yet?