Click on the images help you identify a white oak.
Form
Height ranges from 60 to 80 feet, with a trunk diameter of 24 to 36 inches, although it can grow larger. In forest conditions, white oaks grow tall with narrow crowns. In open areas, they are shorter with broad, rounded tops and limbs spreading irregularly. Well-grown specimens are strikingly beautiful.
Bark
The bark is pale gray, with scaly ridges and shallow fissures. It is thinner than bur oak bark.
Leaf
Leaves are simple, alternate on the stem, 5 to 9 inches long, and about half as broad. They crowd toward the ends of twigs and are deeply divided into five to nine fingerlike lobes. Young leaves unfold yellow or red, later becoming light green above and much paler below. In autumn, leaves turn dark red or brown and sometimes remain on the tree most of the winter.
Fruit (seed)
The fruit is a light brown acorn that matures in the first year, 3/4 to 1 inch long, with about one-fourth enclosed in a bowl-shaped cap.
Range
Abundant in southeastern Minnesota as far north as the Twin Cities, often forming woodlands almost to the exclusion of other trees. Less abundant northward to Mille Lacs and northwestward toward St. Cloud. Absent from northern and western parts of the state. Grows on heavy, well-drained acid soil. Does not tolerate flooding or sedimentation. Slow growing and difficult to transplant after the seedling stage. A fine permanent tree suitable wherever space and soil permit.
Wood uses
The light brown, hard, durable wood is used for heavy construction, ships, railway ties, interior finish, furniture, and fuel.