Content

• Steps

Since there are more than several hundred species of oak in nature, it can be very problematic to distinguish them from each other. In order to more accurately determine which tree is in front of you, all types can be divided into two categories: red oak and white oak. Knowing the difference between them will be the first step towards determining the type of a particular sheet.

Steps

1. 1 Pay attention to the tips of the leaves. In white oak they are usually rounded, while in red oak they are pointed. This step will immediately halve the possible options.
2. 2 Determine your geographic location. Each area has its own types of these trees. For example, the species characteristic of the western regions may be completely alien to the eastern ones.
3. 3 Count the number of beats that make up the sheet. Lobes are parts of a leaf that originate from its center. For greater accuracy, you can collect several sheets in order to calculate the average number of beats. While some types of oak do not have any shares at all, most do.
4. 4 Take a look at the shape of the grooves between the leaf lobes. They can be both small and quite deep. White oak leaves usually have indentations of very different sizes.The rest of the trees in this category have predominantly shallow and uniform depressions.
5. 5 See how the color of the leaves changes in the fall. Evergreen oak leaves remain vibrant and dark green all year round. Species such as American scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) take on brighter colors in the fall. White oak and pointed oak have a dull brown color.
6. 6 If it's summer outside, you can see if the leaves are dark green or light green and bright.
7. 7 Measure the average length of the sheet. Evergreen oak leaves and a couple of red oak species (such as pointed oak) are small, while the leaves of most red oaks and almost all deciduous white oaks are much larger (at least 10 cm).
8. 8 Determine the species of the tree. Now, using all the data you have collected, it will not be difficult for you to determine the type of tree from any reference book that shows the differences between the types of trees.
   • Open the section you want. Most of the guides are divided into white and red oak sections.
   • Narrow down the options by looking only at the views that are specific to your area. A good reference for this purpose should have a distribution map for each species.
   • Now compare your leaves with the reference photos.
   • Read the description of the most suitable candidate and make sure it is the one you are looking for. If not, go to the next one.