Oak

A common name for a large genus of hardwood trees that are widespread in the North Temperate Zone. The oak genus contains about 450 species. Oaks are distinguished from the other ten or so genera in the beech family, to which the oak genus belongs, by various technical characteristics of their minute, clustered flowers, but they are easily recognized by their distinctive fruit, the acorn.  About 60 species of oak occur in the United States and Canada, with about 150 additional species in Mexico. They grow in a variety of habitats, from seacoasts to high mountain slopes and from wet lowlands to high, dry mesas. Flowering occurs in the spring, before the new leaves appear, and large quantities of pollen are shed into the wind. The trees may be deciduous (losing their leaves in the fall) or evergreen. Most eastern United States species are deciduous—the live oak of the southeastern coastal plain being a notable exception—whereas the western United States has both many evergreen and many deciduous species.

Oaks produce durable, tough wood and are important lumber trees. The wood is used in cabinetry and barrel making and as flooring and veneers.  Oaks are of some horticultural importance, but because most are slow growing, they are more often planted in public parks and gardens than in private lawns. Scarlet oak, willow oak, and pin oak, however, are moderate to fast-growing species that are well suited to both purposes.

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