I took a short walk in Centennial woods and stumbled upon what looked like a Northern red oak. To identify this tree I first looked at the bark. The bark had a light orange color within its ridges. This is a key indicator when picking between red oak and white oak. Red oak tend to have a slight orange color associated with it.
I then looked at the branching pattern and noticed that it was alternate branching. The Northern red oak’s a very distinct when it comes to its bud. They have multiple pointy terminal buds. The buds are brown and red in color and have scales. This tree matched up perfectly with its description.
After noticing these features I was fairly confident that this tree was a Northern red oak. I then went back home and uploaded these picture on my INaturalist app. This was a very fun process, I enjoyed taking a walk in the woods Identifying trees and look forward to spending more time in this natural area.
