Dictionary

scarlet oak en · NOUN

Etymology

From the colour of its leaves in autumn.

Meanings

1. The tree Quercus coccinea.
   • Seed production in scarlet oaks varies greatly from year to year; occasionally the trees produce bumper crops. Scarlet oak is a member of the red oak group, all of whose acorns are invested with bitter-tasting tannin compounds, likely evolved to deter mammals from eating too many of them. 2002, Charles Fergus, Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, page 118:
   • One of the finest scarlet oaks in England is at the Duke of Wellington's seat at Strathfieldsaye. 1834, The New Monthly Magazine, volume 40, page 122:
   • Whereas numbers of trees and basal areas of all species increased between 1957 and 1972, the 1972—1977 timber harvest reduced the number of large black and scarlet oaks proportionately more than other species. 2009, Paul S. Johnson, Stephen R. Shifley, Robert Rogers, The Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks, 2nd edition, page 245:

Forms