Quercus rubra L.

vernacular northern red oak — species · Fagaceae

USDA: QURU
GBIF: 2880539
Rank: species

northern red oak (Quercus rubra) — Platephotograph · Sandy WolkenbergCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fagaceae Dumort.
Genus: Quercus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: High
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -35 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 30–80 in/yr
pH range: 4.3–7.3
Root depth: 36 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 81 ft
Height @ 20 y: 36 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 125
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: High
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/QURU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2880539 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z