How2Day: Oak Trees in Winter

As deciduous trees, oak trees shed their leaves each fall and remain bare throughout the winter. Although winter trees seem nondescript, as a field guide put out by BBC Nature points out, winter oaks contain the next season's buds, just waiting to spring into new leaves with the first warmth of spring. Looking at the ground beneath mighty oaks also reveals fallen acorns, which provide a valuable food source for wildlife in the winter.

The northern red oak (Quercus rubra) inhabits all but the far south of the eastern United States and Canada. To identify the northern red oak in winter, look for the buds at the end of the twigs. They emerge straight from the twig, reaching a sharp point, and lack the fine hairs that distinguish buds of other oak species. The bark forms dark furrows. If wandering wildlife has left any for you to find, you may see the ground below scattered with acorns bearing a flat, saucer-like cap, according to "A Field Guide to Eastern Trees."

The white oak (Quercus alba) occupies a similar range as the northern red oak. When looking at the buds on its twigs, you will notice that the white oak produces small, hairless, non-angled buds that tend to be blunt at the tips, advises "A Field Guide to Eastern Trees." The bark is gray and lightly furrowed or scaly. White oak acorns have a bowl-shaped cap that covers only the topmost portion of the acorn.

The bark of the post oak (Quercus stellata) closely resembles that of the white oak, but shared winter characteristics end there. The twig buds are small and blunt, orangish in color and contain small, fine hairs. Acorns tend to remain small, not exceeding an inch in length. Prominent scales described by the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation as "warty" cover the cap, which may encase up to half of the acorn. The post oak occurs in the southern half of the United States through Texas.

You can distinguish the blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica) in winter by its almost black bark, which develops a blocky texture. The buds on the twigs grow long and pointed, about a quarter-inch in length, and occur at sharp angles. They have a reddish-brown coloration and coating of fuzzy hairs. The acorn reaches a sharp point, the 3/4-inch long cap covers half of the nut and bears large, loose scales. The blackjack oak tends to inhabit the southern United States, according to the Virginia Tech Tree ID.

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