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, 50-70' average height at maturity
Buds: .125-.25" with sharp pointed tips, scales indistinct, glabrous, uniformly brown, clustered at twig tips
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 3-6" long and wide, simple, 5-7 narrow lobes, major sinuses (cuts that form lobes) u-shaped (not c-shaped as on Q. coccinea), terminal lobe has long acuminate tip, shiny dark green in summer, russet, bronze, or red in fall
Twigs: numerous short twigs, often at right angles to main stem, 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" high, up to .75" wide, light brown, cap covers half to a third of nut
Bark: grayish brown, smooth, shallowly ridged and furrowed with age
