Pin Oak
A large tree with a tall, straight trunk, pyramidal crown. Lower limbs droop, middle limbs are horizontal, top limbs slant upward.
Leaves alternate, simple, 4–6 inches long, broadest in the middle; usually with 5–9 lobes; notches between the lobes rounded, cut deeply, 2/3 or more to the central vein; each lobe with 2–4 sharply pointed teeth, bristle-tipped. Upper surface dark green, shiny; lower surface paler, smooth except for tufts of hairs in the vein axils. Turn deep scarlet in fall.
Bark light brown, smooth, shiny; becoming grayish-brown, shallowly grooved and slightly roughened with closely flattened scales with age. The numerous limbs make small pin knots in the lumber.
Flowering April–May, in catkins.
Fruits September–October, acorns solitary or in clusters of 2 or 3, small, 3/8 to 1/2 inch long, often striped, shaped like half of a sphere, enclosed at the base in a shallow cup that covers 1/4 to 1/3 of the nut. Fruit bitter, ripening in autumn of the second year.
