Red River Oak

COMMON NAMES:  Red Oak, Red River Oak, Pin Oak, Striped Oak

BOTANICAL NAME:  Quercus nuttallii  

PRONUNCIATION:  KWER-kus  nu-TALL-ee-eye

TYPE:  Deciduous - Sun

HEIGHT:  to 50 feet 

SPREAD:  40 feet

SPACING:  30 - 40 feet

HABIT:  Medium to large tree, deciduous shad tree.  Fall color is not spectacular Small trees have a narrow pyramidal  crown which becomes broad, open and wide-spreading with age.  It is closely related to northern pin oak, Q. ellipsoidalis.  Its leaf resembles that of a Shumard red oak, Q. shumardii, but is more deeply lobed and the acorns are larger and have a deeper cup.

CULTURE:  Found in bottomlands, floodplains and drainage basins. Grows well with winter flooding on sites with year-round moisture and in areas that are waterlogged and oxygen-deficient. Will withstand a great variability in pH, but it cannot tolerate shade.

USES:  Shade tree, especially good for heavy moist soils.

PROBLEMS:  Not greatly drought tolerant.

NOTES:  Sometimes confused with pin oak.

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