Red Oak and Virginia Creeper (Black Diamond) Traditional Cache

Red Oak? The leaves are so high up! The cleared lower trunk ( for trains?) seems to invite Virginia Creeper. As the V.C. is not innocuous, I wonder, who will win?

Please BYOP!

Red Oak

Quercus rubra

The red oak is one of the largest and most important timber trees. One of the fastest growing of the oaks, it attains a to 80 feet and a diameter of two to three feet. It has a wide, spreading head with few far reaching branches. Found growing over southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, it reaches west to central Minnesota, eastern Nebraska and Kansas. It prefers moist, rich soils on north, east or northeast exposures.

The tree has a single, lobed leaf with seven to eleven pointed or bristly-tipped lobes. The lobe sinuses reach one-half way to mid-vein. The leaves are thin, firm, dull green above, yellow-green below, varying considerably.

The fruit is a large, broad, rounded acorn with a very shallow disk-like or saucer-shaped cup or cap.

The twigs are small, slender, greenish brown to dark brown. On young branches the bark is smooth and gray to greenish. On the trunk it breaks into long, narrow, shallow ridges flat and smooth on top. The underbark is light red.

Leaves:

    •    Have seven to 11 toothed lobes that are separated by sinuses extending about halfway to the midrib.

    •    Contain tannin, a substance that makes the leaves leathery and hinders decomposition.

    •    Dark red, fading to brown but may remain on the tree well into the fall.

Branching: alternate

Bark: reddish brown when young; mature tree is dark, furrowed and often laced with broad shiny strips (ski trails).

Height: 70 to 90 ft.

Trunk Diameter: 2 to 4 ft.

Longevity: 300+ yrs.

Tolerance: intermediate

Range: eastern U.S. except for the south Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains

Fun Facts: Acorns provide a food source for numerous birds and animals: Ruffed grouse, nuthatch, blue jay, wild turkey, red, gray and fox squirrels, bears, deer, raccoons.

Question: How many root beer barrels could you make from a red oak tree?

Answer: None - red oak has big pores, so all the root beer would leak out.

Virginia creeper
Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Life cycle: deciduous, woody vine. This is a native vine.

Growth habit: stems trailing or climbing by tendrils with adhesive discs; leaves alternate, palmately compound, usually 5 leaflets but sometimes 3 or 7, football to egg-shaped, margins toothed; often mistaken for poison ivy which has 3 leaflets and climbs by aerial roots

Reproduction: usually spread by seed but stems will root when they touch the ground; flowers greenish in clusters; blue-black berries

Conditions that favor growth: valued for ornamental fall color; common weed of landscapes; tolerates a wide range of conditions

Cultural control: remove young seedlings by hand to keep vines from taking control

Some native aggressive vines are wild grape and Virginia creeper that can overwhelm a tree if left unchecked. ... New vines will grow from the pruning cut for the next growing season. This way, the vines will not grow into the upper canopy and the vines will be more or less kept in check. There are two ways to kill vines.

There are two types of climbing vines -- the vines that grow straight up the trunk and the vines that circle the trunk as they climb.

Circling vines such as wisteria can wrap so tightly around the trunk that the vine stems can strangle or girdle a tree over time as the trunk attempts to expand through normal growth. Vines that grow straight up the trunk will not girdle a tree.

Shading, a bigger problem than girdling, can occur with both types of climbing vines.

Shading occurs when the vine foliage overtakes the tree foliage and begins to shade and crowd out the tree foliage. Aggressive vines can cause tree decline and eventual death. Some of the more aggressive exotic vines are: confederate jasmine, yellow jessamine, English ivy, ficus and wisteria.

Some native aggressive vines are wild grape and Virginia creeper that can overwhelm a tree if left unchecked.

Vines on an older tree are a source of competition for the tree roots. A young vigorous tree is better able to compete for moisture and nutrients with surrounding plants than a mature tree.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, “small” pill bottle, that you have to push hard to open and close. Please make sure you keep track of everything, including the rubber band, and put things back as you found them, or better. Please don’t forget to BYOP!