A Look at Five Oak Leaves and Tree Identification
In today’s TrueTreeTalk blog post, we compare the leaves of five oaks. Our goal is to help you better identify them in the field. The five oaks we chose were:
Quercus alba – White oak
Quercus macrocarpa – Bur oak/Mossycup oak
Quercus buckleyi – Texas oak/Texas red oak/Spanish oak
Quercus shumardii – Shumard oak
Quercus phellos – Willow oak
All of these oaks have deciduous, simple, alternate leaves. They differ according to the chart below:
| Bristle tips? | Color of upper sides of mature leaves | Color of undersides of mature leaves | Number of Lobes | Shape of lobes | Length of leaves | Width of leaves | Other features | |
| Quercus alba White oak | No | Green-blueDull | Pale | 7-11 | Lobes are divided, are like fingers, and have rounded ends. | 6-9 inches | 3-4.5 inches | |
| Quercus macrocarpa Bur oak/Mossycup oak | No | Dark greenShiny | Pale green | 5-9 | Lobes vary in shape and there are deep sinuses between lobes.The last third of the leaf away from the petiole has less distinct lobes and can have a rough-toothed edge. | 6-12 inches | 3-6 inches | |
| Quercus buckleyi Texas oak/Texas red oak/Spanish oak | Yes | Darker greenShiny | Paler compared to the upperside | 5-7 | The widest portion is in the upper half of the leaf (away from the petiole). The lobe at the tip will often have three lobes.The sinuses are generally deep. | 3-5 inches | 2.5-3 inches | The petiole is thin and approximately 1″ in length. The leaves turn red during autumn. |
| Quercus shumardii Shumard oak | Yes | Darker greenShiny | Lighter than the upper side | 7-9 (sometimes 5) | The lobes vary in width with those that are widest toward the end of the leaf.The sinuses (spaces between lobes) are deep and rounded. | 6-8 inches | 4-5 inches | The undersides are smooth, though there are fine hairs in places. |
| Quercus phellos Willow oak | Yes | Medium-tone green Shiny | Duller and lighter than the upper side | 0 (no lobes) | Not lobed.The leaves are linear or have a lanceolate shape | 2-5 inches | 0.5-0.75 inch | The leaves are smooth on the upper and lower side. The leaves turn a shade of brownish gold in the autumn. |
When looking at a leaf that you think might be one of these five, you can go through a series of questions. For example, you could ask if the leaf has a bristled tip or not. If it does, you can narrow it down to Quercus buckleyi, Quercus shumardii, or Quercus phellos. You could then ask if it has lobes or not. If it does, that would narrow it down to Quercus buckleyi or Quercus shumardii. You could then count the lobes. If it has seven, it could still be one of these two trees. You could then check the length and the width. If it is larger, then it would be Quercus shumardii. You would have identified the tree.
Of course, there are more oaks than these, and trees other than oaks, but we chose only a few to highlight some of their features and to point out characteristics that could help you identify a tree. At some point, we may have a more comprehensive list that you can use.
If you found this information about oak leaves helpful, check out our other posts on our TrueTreeTalk blog. Be sure and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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