Giant Bryant Red Oak Traditional Cache

This Giant Bryant Red Oak cache replaces the Norway Spruce cache that disappeared when that big tree was cut down. Here’s some local information about Oaks in general and Red Oaks specifically. Please BYOP!

Know Your Trees - Bailey Hortorium Herbarium - Cornell University:

THE OAKS

Of the 300 oaks known in the world, 55 are native to North America, and most of these are in the eastern United States. The oaks make up the largest group of forest trees native to New York. In all there are 16 species of oaks native to this state.

They grow under a wide range of conditions and show wide variations in form and other distinguishing characteristics. The oaks of New York do not thrive in the high forests of the mountains; therefore, representatives of the family found in the Adirondack section are in the sheltered valleys of the foothills. South and westward in the drainages of the Susquehanna, Genesee, and Alleghany Rivers, they become very plentiful in variety and number.

The best way to get acquainted with New York oaks is to divide them into two major groups, the one group to comprise the white oaks and the other the black oaks. It is easy to place the oaks of New York in these two groups by remembering the following characteristics of each:

The white oaks - The leaves of the members of the white-oak group have rounded lobes (not bristle-tipped), and the kernels of the acorns are usually sweet. All the oaks of this group mature their acorns in a single season; for this reason they are sometimes called "annual oaks." The most important members of the group in New York are white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, post oak, and chestnut oak.

The black oaks - The leaves of the members of the black-oak group have bristle-tipped (not round-lobed) leaves, and the kernels of their acorns are usually bitter. All the oaks of this group require two seasons to mature their acorns; for this reason the representatives of this group are sometimes called "biennial oaks," which means two-year oaks in contrast with the one-year white oaks. The immature acorns are very helpful in recognizing the members of the black-oak group, especially during the winter months when the trees are without leaves. The most important members of this group in New York State are black oak, red oak, scarlet oak, and pin oak.

36. NORTHERN RED OAK

Quercus rubra Linnaeus

Northern red oak is the fastest growing and largest of all the oaks native to New York State. It shows adaptability to a wide variety of soil conditions and ranges farther north than any other oak common to the state.

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, light reddish brown in color, and is used for furniture, interior finish, ties, piling, ships, and general construction, though less durable than white oak.

Bark - on young trees smooth, gray green in color; with age tardily breaking into rather regular, firm, elongated, flat-topped ridges with shallow furrows between. The smooth ridge tops are markedly lighter in color than are the furrows. On very large trees, this characteristic is lost at the base but is evident higher up the trunk. Inner bark is red in color.

Twigs - stout or slender, reddish to greenish brown in color.

Winter buds - clustered at ends of twigs, oval, sharp-pointed, 1/4 inch long, generally smooth (particularly on the lower half).

Leaves- alternate; simple, 5 to 9 inches long, 4 to 6 inches wide, with 7 to 9 lobes; lobes sparsely toothed, bristle-tipped; wide rounding clefts extending halfway to midrib. At maturity thin, dark, shiny green in color above, paler and smooth below.

Fruit - an acorn, borne solitary or in pairs, either with or without stalk, maturing in the autumn of the second year; one of our largest acorns. Nut - chestnut brown in color, 3/4 inch long, only 1/5 enclosed in a wide, shallow cup. Meat - pale yellow in color, bitter.

Distinguishing features - reddish inner bark; leaf balanced (no heavier at outer than inner end); large fat acorn with flat cup. In thick woods, lower branches usually are self-pruned to more than half the height of tree.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, “micro” pill bottle that you have to push hard to both open and close. Please make sure you keep track of the rubber band and the plastic bag and put everything back as you found it, including the camo. You need to BYOP!