476. Scarlet oak

Scarlet oak or Spanish oak (Quercus coccinea) is a medium to large deciduous tree. It has alternatively placed, deeply-lobed, sharply-toothed leaves. The twigs are reddish-brown with whitish-hairy bud tips. Flowers form as separate male and female catkins. Its fruit is an acorn with a deep, tightly scaled cup. The tree is native to eastern North America. Scarlet oak has a brilliant red autumn foliage (compared to pin oak leaves which turn bronze) and red new leaves in early spring. Introduced into cultivation in 1691. Scarlet Oak is distinguished from Pin Oak by its growth in drier regions, a deeper acorn cup, hairy buds and rough bark. Q. coccinea (scarlet oak) hybridizes with Q. palustris (pin oak), Q. rubra (red oak), and Q. velutina (black oak) making species identification challenging. Like all Fagales many leaves remain on the tree during winter. The Latin name for acorn is ‘glans’ which is morphologically similar to the tip of the mammalian penis also called a ‘glans’. Quercus is the Latin name for “oak”. The species epithet, coccinea, means scarlet

Specimen Provenance:

Common name: Scarlet Oak, Black Oak, Spanish Oak, American Red Oak

Scientific Name (family and order): Quercus coccinea Munchhausen (Fagaceae, Fagales)

Species Origin: Southeast and Central United States.

New Jersey Status: USDA Native

Habit: Pyramid shaped tree. 60 – 100’ tall x 50’ wide; bole diameter 1 – 2’. Notably, Scarlet Oak, like Pin Oak, has drooping lower branches.

Habitat: Zones 4 – 9; grows on uplands, dry slopes, ridges and sandy barrens.

Trunk/Stem: Bark gray, smooth with vertical stripes alternating with dark gray to dark brown rough ridges. Older bark becomes entirely rough with dark gray-brown ridges and furrows. The inner bark is bright red-orange.

Leaves: Deciduous, Simple, Alternate. Leaves are 3 -7” long, widest at the middle; 7 lobes divided at least halfway to the yellow midvein; each lobe has bristle-tipped teeth. Each lobe is widest toward the tip. Upper surface of the blade is glossy, green; below it is pale yellow green with tufts of hair in the vein angles. The leaf stalks (the petioles) are long.

Flowers: Monoecious. Flowers appear on old or new growth; staminate catkins pendent and clustered; its flowers comprise a 4 – 7 lobed calyx which encloses 6 stamens. The pistillate flowers are solitary or on few to many flowered spikes which form in the axial of new leaves. Individual flowers consist of a 6 lobed calyx surrounding 3-celled ovary; the whole is partly covered by the involucre.

Fruits and seeds: The fruit is an acorn, 1/2 – 1” long and 5/8” wide; ovoid, brown, 1/3 – ½ enclosed by a cup made of light brown thick hairy scales. Acorns are borne singly or in pairs. They ripen by the second year.

Why Dead Trees Matter

Contribution by Lilly Krauss:

When you venture in the wooded area of Marquand park, you may notice fallen trees and large branches on the ground. In this area of the park called natural woods, trees grow, mature, reproduce, die, and decompose without human intervention. Because dead trees are left undisturbed, natural woods have a healthier and more diverse ecosystem than wooded areas where fallen trees are routinely cleared.

When a fallen tree begins to rot on the ground, fungi and other microorganisms that live on dead wood break down the tree’s cell wall, thereby releasing carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential nutrients to the soil. This decomposition produces rich organic matter for other trees to use.

Even standing dead trees, called snags, play an important role in the forest by supplying food and microhabitats. You may find snags stripped of their bark because in particular, deer and other small animals like to eat the bark. Woodpeckers bore deep holes in snags to get at insects or larvae within. These holes become nesting sites for woodland birds. Rotting tree bases provide homes for small mammals. Finally, birds of prey use standing dead trees as lookouts.

To read more about the importance of natural woods:

Dead Wood by Dan Puplett.
Science News for Students, recycling the dead, by Kathiann Kowalski
The Biological Carbon Cycle, by Professor Patricia Shapley, University of Illinois, 2010
Science findings, PNW Pacific Northwest Research Station, issue twenty/ November 1999
Whether fallen or standing, trees have many uses, Karen Maserjian Shan, February 28, 2015

Japanese Knotweed

The recent discovery of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) around the parking lot of Marquand Park demands some attention. The perennial has a bamboo-like reddish stem, heart-shaped bright green leaves, and when blooming pretty little white-flower tassels. Introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, Japanese knotweed became popular as a garden plant because of its soft and pleasing effect. In the United States, Frederic Law Olmsted was responsible for planting it in Central Park.

Over time, the plant has become the most pernicious weed in Great Britain posing a threat to building structures and road surfaces. In the United States, Japanese knotweed is considered an invasive in 38 states and occurs on the New Jersey Invasive Plant Species List. The weed likes to grow along roads and in areas disturbed by human activity. It spreads like wildfire. Eradicating a cluster of plants is not easy. A home improvement website called the Spruce describes techniques such as using tarp to smother the weed; cutting and digging up the plant and its root system; and spraying and injecting knotweed with herbicides. In the United Kingdom, scientists are experimenting with the release of a plant eating insect called Aphalara itadori that feeds on the Japanese knotweed and kills the plant.

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