Additional Resources

National Register Big Trees

Ohio State Plant Facts

What Tree Is It?

America's forestry movement actually started in Ohio with the creation of the American Forestry Association in Cincinnati in 1875.

Division of Forestry
2045 Morse Rd.
Building H1.
Columbus, OH 43229

A deciduous tree from the Beech Family (Fagaceae)

Scarlet Oak is found throughout much of the Eastern United States, and within Ohio is found abundantly in the eastern half of the state, and modestly in the southern counties, but is rare elsewhere. This Oak is frequently confused with Pin Oak (the shapes of their leaves and young trees are similar), and also with Black Oak, Red Oak, and Shumard Oak on occasion.

Scarlet Oak, as its name implies, can have the best fall color of any oak, but many trees are more russet than flaming scarlet, and its best growth only occurs on acidic soils. Scarlet Oak is an inhabitant of dry ridges, bluffs, and hills due to its superior drought tolerance. It may reach 70 feet tall by 50 feet wide at maturity, when found in the open. As a member of the Red Oak group and the Beech Family, it is related to the Beeches, Chestnuts, and other Oaks.

Planting Requirements - Scarlet Oak absolutely prefers dry, acidic soils in which to thrive. It also likes moist, well-drained soils, but does not tolerate alkaline soils, as severe chlorosis and stunted growth will develop. Soils can be fertile and deep, but most often are average to poor, rocky or gravelly, and relatively thin in the wild where it co-dominates with other drought-tolerant trees. Like most Oaks, Scarlet Oak has a tap root system that is coarse and hard to successfully transplant. It thrives in full sun to partial sun (but is shade tolerant in youth) and is found in zones 4 to 9.

Potential Problems - As mentioned above, Scarlet Oak will not perform well in alkaline (high pH) soils, and does not even like neutral pH soils. Chlorosis (yellowing of the leaf blades, with only the veins remaining green) will be the symptom of why it is struggling. In addition, Scarlet Oak will be subject to the usual array of pests and pathogens that can affect many Oaks.

Leaf Identification Features

Scarlet Oak is known as the Oak with leaves that have C-shaped sinuses between the lobes , but the sinuses vary greatly as to their depth and width, even on the same tree. The growth habit of young Scarlet Oaks strongly resembles that of Pin Oak in its youth, but the upper canopy of Scarlet Oak becomes more spreading and open at maturity than that of Pin Oak.

While some of the alternate, broadly elliptical leaves have shallow sinuses and wide, single-bristled lobes , others have deep sinuses almost cut to the midrib, with narrow lobes having many bristle-tipped teeth.

Other Identification Features

Fall color is later than most Oaks, and varies from a subtle russet-brown to brilliant scarlet and crimson hues, for which this tree is named. Chlorotic leaves will appear in soils with an alkaline pH. Many trees, like those of the very closely related Pin Oak, will retain dead leaves in winter that only abscise with twig and bud swell the following spring.

Scarlet Oak is monoecious, having pendulous pollen-bearing catkins in mid-spring that are the golden male flowers easily seen. By being a member of the Red Oak group, the miniature female flowers on the same tree that are fertilized take two years to mature. However, they are not obvious until the second year, when they slowly fill out during the summer and ripen in early to mid-autumn. Scarlet Oak can be differentiated from other closely-related oaks by the pattern of circles or arcs at the ends of its acorn tips.

Twigs of all Oaks terminate in a cluster of buds, and those of Scarlet Oak are variable in terms of their size and degree of pubescence. Some are small on grayish-green twigs, while others are large and slightly hairy on reddish-brown twigs.

As its relatively thin bark matures, it becomes moderately ridged and shallowly furrowed, with the dark gray to gray-brown color that is characteristic of members of the Red Oak group.