I took my design students last Sunday to Meridian Hill Park for a little tour. I had them reverse engineer various construction details and grading plans, as I think that's a great way to really "get" design. More on the park itself in the days to come but for now, let's feature a great native oak, Quercus macrocarpa or bur oak.
Bur oak is easy to spot - its leaves are fairly irregular in shape. At the leaf tip, the lobes are shallow and the leaf almost looks deeply scalloped. Closer to the base, the sinuses get deeper. Overall, the leaf is paddle-shaped.
The bark is deeply fissured and somewhat flaky. It's closely related to white oak and has a similar shaggy texture with a stony/silvery color to it. The fall color is not as scarlet as white oak, instead it's a dingy yellow.
The specimens in Meridian Hill Park are fantastic. They're a bit big to use in a residential setting, but what a wonderful tree to appreciate in a park or a campus!
Macrocarpa as you should probably have guessed, means big fruit or big body. Bur is also referring to the acorn which has a fuzzy cap on it that almost looks like a bur. Another common name is mossycup oak.
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