Common Oak Trees and Their Characteristics

Oak trees are found primarily in temperate regions. There are approximately 600 species worldwide. Some common oak trees include the White Oak, Boynton Oak, Scarlet Oak, Texas Live Oak, and the Georgia Oak. Identifying oak types can be achieved through the characteristics of growth height, bark, twigs, buds, and leaves. Many field guides use these types of characteristics in their descriptions of oak trees. Some of those characteristics can be found in the chart below.


Information acquired March 2014
Name Growth Height Bark Twigs and Buds Leaves
White Oak 100 feet
  • Light gray in color
  • Bark is made up of shallow furrows that form scaly ridges
  • Slender to stout, gray to reddish-green
  • Twigs with star-shaped tissue
  • Buds are reddish-brown and broadly oval and hairless
  • Egg shaped and flat to elliptical leaves, dull or shiny grayish green in color
Boynton Oak 6.5 to 19 feet
  • Bark is brown and scaly
  • Light brown twigs; reddish-brown buds
  • Rounded apex and sparsely scales
  • Narrow egg shaped and flat to rounded leaves, dark green and grayish green in color
Scarlet Oak
(red oak, black oak, Spanish oak)		 120 feet
  • Bark is made up fine fissures and scaly ridges and brown in color
  • Inner bark is red to orange-pink
  • Twigs are smooth reddish-brown; clustered terminal buds are egg shaped and reddish-brown
  • Elliptical to egg shaped and glossy light green in color
Texas Live Oak 40 feet
  • Dark gray in color
  • Bark is made-up of scaly plates
  • Twigs are light gray, slender and stiff
  • Buds are reddish to brown with smooth egg shaped scales
  • Thick elliptical and narrowly egg-shaped and light to dark green glossy surface
Georgia Oak 26 feet
  • Gray to light brown
  • Bark is scaly
  • Twigs are smooth and red
  • Buds are reddish brown with smooth egg shaped scales
  • Broad elliptical and thin with shiny green color

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