Spotted this today and IDed it right away by the bark. Then i looked at the leaves and realized i was wrong. Ill post leaf pics (which will easily give it away) later this weekend. Guess away FHC!
At first (from a distance, in the shade and without my glasses on) i thought it was a hickory. Its a white oak of some sort. Congrats to BuckeyeFootball Free ride in the corporate helicopter for you.
Eric Wanderweg thought swamp chestnut oak. I PMed the leaf pics to him after i posted or he'd be having sleepless nights trying to figure it out.
Chestnut/swamp chestnut/swamp white oak leaves look almost indistinguishable from each other. The undersides of swamp white are very light in color (Latin name Quercus Bicolor) so that’s ruled out. That bark definitely isn’t regular chestnut oak, as even the small trees I’ve seen have that striking blocky appearance. That leaves swamp chestnut, which I’ve never seen in person. There is a remote possibility it’s some Asian variety, but for now I’m sticking with swamp chestnut.
I know where some young swamp Chestnut oaks are. If I remember I’ll get leaf pics for comparison. That bark pattern looks foreign to me.
Oaks will readily hybridize with each other esp whites so it could be a mix of almost anything but I agree its got some swamp dna.
We have lots of that down here Brad! First pic had me leaning at Hickory, but the leaves were the give away. My gun club is full of it. We have swampy and low lying areas and that grows Plenty full.
I have seen bark like that on smaller trees. Looking quick i would call it a birch of some kind based on the bark.
After seeing Chud 's pictures, I'm not convinced. The plot thickens. Rather, we might be seeing aliens : Quercus aliena - Wikipedia
I had someone arguing with me that Chestnut Oak does not grow in my locality a few months back. The below pic is my 'proof' that they do. I would never confuse Chestnut Oak with any other variety. Bark furrows up to 2" deep on the big ones.
When looking at range maps, I think they're more of a general guideline than an absolute boundary. You never know where an isolated population of any tree might pop up. Aren't you generally in southeast Ohio/Appalachia anyway?
Some guys get some things in their heads then preach it as gospel. His position was based off of 'not seeing any' in the particular woods he had hunted here. 'Too far north.' I have tons of them which means they must like lower quaity, well drained soil and ridge tops. lol They are almost always up higher and perched on the side of a hill in my woods.
They're definitely site-specific trees. You won't find them in wet bottomlands or in heavy clay soil. They like sandy/rocky soil on dry, warm ridges. You'd also be hard pressed to find them on former pastureland. They aren't exactly a colonizer species. The bark characteristics are an adaptation to survive frequent forest fires. I live on a north facing slope where there are a couple nearby, but few and far between. On the sunny south facing slope a mile away, there is an extensive stand of them.
