# Name the Oak Leaf (pics.)



## Kenster (Dec 19, 2011)

I have several types of Oaks on our property.   Three I am sure of:  Live Oak, Water Oak, Post Oak.  There are a few others.  I'm trying to identify them by their leaves.  I gathered several leaves this morning.  A couple are very similar except that lobes are indented on one and not the other.  Two others are similar but one leaf has tiny, single spines at the points.   I've consulted charts that I've Googled but I'm still not certain, so thought I'd ask for input from you folks.

Number one is Live Oak:







Number two is Water Oak:  






Number three is Post Oak:






A couple of the next ones look similar to Post Oak (and may be) but there are some differences, like indented lobes or no third set of lobes.











This is quite different with its single, rounded top lobe:






This one has a spiny point at the top and along each side:






Finally, this one is very large, almost triangular with rounded top with hardly any trace of a lobe.   Huge versions of these leaves can sometimes be found on saplings no more than two feet tall.  The shape is similar to Water Oak but it most definitely is not.  The leaf is four times larger than Water Oak and the bark of the tree is totally different.  One particular specimen of this tree keeps its leaves many weeks longer than the same size Post Oak that is right next to it.  They are far enough apart so that one does not shade or otherwise interfere with the other one.  I think this might be a Blackjack Oak.  A Google search shows a leaf virtually identical.  






The most abundant on the property are Post Oaks and Water Oaks and that is what provides much of my firewood.  I especially like the Water Oak as the trunks are very straight grained and split like a dream.  

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks.

Ken


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## stejus (Dec 19, 2011)

You got some interesting oak leaves there.   The two primary oaks around my parts are Red and White Oak and the leaves are quite different than the rounded leaves you are showing.  I guess it doesn't matter though... any oak is a good hard wood as long as it's seasoned long enough.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 19, 2011)

Ken, this is one thing that has fascinated us in our travels. We don't have any of those oaks around our area.


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## Kenster (Dec 19, 2011)

It's nice to be blessed with oak. 

"Hey Ken!  What kind of wood do you use during the shoulder season."    (Me  Oak!

"Hey Ken!  What kind of wood do you burn in the coldest part of winter?"  (Me Oak!

"Hey Ken!  What kind of wood do you use for your overnight burns?"  (Me Oak!

"Hey Ken!  What kind of wood do you use in your fire pit?"  (Me: Oak!)

Actually, for the first time, I've been burning a bit of really dry pine and I have to say I like it.  I use it on the bottom of my cold start, top-downs then add oak later.
And I get a wee bit of pignut hickory every once in a while.  I've got a bunch of huge hickories back in the woods but I'm not going to cut them down for firewood.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 20, 2011)

Neat . . . like Stejus all we have around here for the most part is white and red oak and they're quite different looking from most of the oak leafs you posted pics of here.


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## ryanm527 (Dec 20, 2011)

All of the brownish ones look like post oak except the last two. The more triangular ones with the points look like blackjack oak, which I would think would be pretty common in TX as well. They are very common here, often on rocky hillsides. Bark would be dark brown, almost blackish, very rough with lots of dead branches lower on the tree. Usually smaller to medium sized trees.


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## clemsonfor (Dec 20, 2011)

Yea i agree with the last guy all those others after Post oak are Post oak. Thats what makes oaks so hard to tell there can be so much variation in the leaves from tree to tree as well as on a single tree. Also oak ID is hard as there are so many species.There are young leaves mature leaves shade leaves and sun leaves. Trust me i am a forester and i still remember dendrology class of having to identify all the tricky ones they wanted to throw at us. The last 2 can be blackjack oak if the tree is retaining lots of dead branch stubs, or it could be black oak, which is quercus velutina, a different species than black jack oak which i cant recall the latin name now. Black oak has a better form and better tree like a northern red or scarlet oak.

As for your others i think you are dead on, Live oak is easy and i doubt you can screw it up, will have leaves all year!


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## Wood Duck (Dec 20, 2011)

The 2nd to last leaf has bristle tips, which clearly make it different than the pictures before it. it looks like a good candidate for Blackjack Oak. Maybe the last leaf is also Blackjack Oak. I agree that pics before the Blackjack Oak could all be Post Oak. You need to look at the acorns, twigs, and buds to be sure.


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## jimosufan (Dec 20, 2011)

pic 3 is turkey oak.


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## Kenster (Dec 20, 2011)

The last two leaves in the pics were almost identical except for one that had the spiny points.   I just went back out to that tree and on the same tree, even on the same twig, there are some leaves that are smooth edged and some that have the points, not just three points like in the picture, but several.  The bark is, indeed, very dark, almost black.
I'm sold on the fact that it is Blackjack Oak.



> pic 3 is turkey oak.




Not quite.  Leaf is sort of similar but the turkey leaf is much more pointed, almost looking like a holly leaf.  Turkey oak is smallish, almost shrubby and pretty much is confined to Florida through  SE Louisiana.   #3 is definitely Post Oak.   We are in the middle of a large Post Oak zone in this part of Texas.  It's the predominant oak around here.  Followed closely by Water Oak.


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## remkel (Dec 21, 2011)

I am naming all of them George.


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