Black Oak Group: acorns mature in 2 years, small ones usually present on winter twigs, leaves usually have bristle-tipped lobes (except Q. imbricaria, which is bristle-tipped at apex), winter buds generally acute at apex
Size: tree, 50-60' average height at maturity
Buds: ovate to conical, .25-.5" long, sharp-pointed, tan or gray pubescence, angular in cross-section, clustered at twig tips
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 4-10" long, 2-6" wide, simple, oblong-ovate, to obovate, 7-9 pointed lobes, shiny dark green on top, glabrous underside
Twigs: stout, reddish brown or reddish, mottled with gray, 5-pointed star-shaped pith
Flowers: monoecious, male flowers in catkins, females in leaf axils, solitary or in small clusters
Fruit: acorn (nuts plus involucre), up to .75", hemispherical, often with faint stripes, light red-brown, cap covers 50-70 percent of nut
Bark: black on old trunks, deep vertical furrows with many horizontal breaks
