Black Oak

Latin name: Quercus velutina 

Etymology: Quercus velutina gets its name from the downiness of its young leaves. Quercus is the Latin word for ‘oak’ while the species name comes from the Latin word for ‘fleece’ (vellus). 

Family: Fagaceae (Beeches)

Origin: Central and eastern North America

Native habitats: Hardwood forests and savannas in the transition between central forests and prairies.

Black oak tends to be found on dry upland sites. Like red oak and pin oak, its leaves have lobes with bristle tips. Between the lobes are deep sinuses extending close to the midrib. The top of the leaf is shinier than on red oaks.

Description: Black oaks have a height of between 50-100 feet and a diameter of 3-5 feet. Leaves are moderately lobed with generally 5-9 lobes, usually somewhat hairy beneath and glossy above. They measure between 4-10 inches. The bark is dark, blocky and usually without shiny ridges. Twigs are hairless and end buds densely gray-hairy and sharply angled. Flowers are yellowish in 4-6 inch long catkins (male trees) or found in short spikes of groups of 1-4 (female trees) and appear in spring. Fruits are rounded acorns measuring between 1/2 to 3/4 inches and appear in summer. The cap covers about half of the acorn and is loosely covered in scales with a short fringe formed at the lower rim. 

Similar species: Red Oak is very similar but can be distinguished by hairless and comparably smaller buds that are reddish brown rather than tan, and by acorn cups that enclose less than 1/3 of the acorn. Shumard Oak has more deeply lobed leaves and shallow, non-fringed acorn cups.

Wildlife value: Black Oak is the host plant for hundreds of moth and butterfly larvae. Its acorns are a high value food source for many mammals and birds and it is a good cavity tree.

Uses: The inner bark of the Black Oak contains the yellow-orange pigment Quercitron, which was sold commercially in Europe until the 1940s, lending the species its former common name of Yellow Oak. 

The hard and coarse-grained wood of Black oak wood is used in construction, for fence posts and fuel.