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, 70-75' average height at maturity, 40-50' spread
Buds: broadly ovate, .25-.5, clustered at twig tips, blunt (unlike those of other black oaks), shaped like rugby balls
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 3-6" long, 2.5-4.5" wide, simple, oblong or elliptic, 7-9 lobes with bristle-tips, base often truncate, major sinuses (cuts that create lobing) are C-shaped, unlike U-shaped Q. palustris), shiny dark green on top, shiny underside, scarlet in fall or sometimes russet red
Twigs: light brown to red-brown, dotted with small gray lenticels, older stems shiny green, 5-point star-shaped pith
Flowers: monoecious, male flowers in catkins, females in leaf axils, solitary or in small clusters
Fruit: acorn (nuts plus involucre), .5-1" long and wide, oval to hemispherical, red-brown, cap encloses half to two-thirds
Bark: gray with reddish inner bark
