Quercus acutissima, Saw-tooth Oak



Black Oak Group: acorns mature in 2 years, small ones usually present on winter twigs, leaves usually have bristle-tipped lobes (except for Q. imbricaria, which is bristle tipped at apex), winter buds generally acute at apex

Size: tree, 40-50' average height at maturity

Buds: .125-.375", acute, clustered at twig tips, pubescent to the point of wooliness, laterals sometimes superposed

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 3.5-7.5" long, 1-2.25" wide, simple, unlobed, oblong to lanceolate, serrate with bristle-like teeth, accuminate, often persistent, toothed but not lobed, teeth tipped with bristles

Twigs: gray-brown, glabrous, pith shaped like a 5-point star

Flowers: monoecious, male flowers in catkins up to 4", females in leaf axils, solitary or in small clusters

Fruit: acorn (nuts plus involucre), the involucre has long spreading scales enclosing 2/3 of the nut

Bark: gray-brown with deep ridges and furrows