Colors of a Scrub Oak Tree

Foliage

• The tree foliage is leathery and dark green. The thickly pubescent or fuzzy undersides are lighter shaded with a light green to gray. The simple, alternate leaves are 2 to 5 inches long and obovate or slightly bell shaped. The foliage has three to five lobes with bristled ends. Both leaf undersides and uppersides have raised secondary veins.

Flowers

• The scrub oak tree is monoecious and bears male and female flowers on the same tree. Male flowers appear in the form of 2- to 4-inch-long, light, reddish green catkins. The female flowers are reddish and grow singly or in clusters on short spikes. The flowers bloom with the leaves during spring.

Fruit

• The fruit or acorns of scrub oak are egg shaped and range anywhere between 2/5 to 4/5 inch in length. The acorns are dark brown. The cover or acorn cap drapes over one-third of the total length of fruit. The inner and outer surfaces of the cap are covered with soft, fine hair. It takes two seasons for the fruit to reach maturation and is fully mature in fall.

Bark and Twigs

• The tree bark is mostly smooth with a lightly scaly texture and is gray-brown. Short, cracklike fissures appear at wide spaces on the tree. The light pink inner bark is revealed through the cracks. The slender twigs are tan and lightly pubescent. The small terminal buds are reddish brown.