Photo of the Day - April 20, 2007 - The Perfect Tree

Post Oak (Quercus stellata), 1000 Block, N. Elm Street, East Side

When I was growing up I lived about two miles from Forest Lake Shopping Center, one of the very first shopping centers in Columbia, SC. I used to ride my bike there all the time. A convenience store sold at the shoppign center sold ICEE's, and that was always a draw in the summer. On the back side of Forest Lake Shopping Center there was a creek that entered into Gills Creek on the far side of the property, and over the creek a nice little walking/biking bridge connecting the Center to the neighborhood behind. Just on the other side of the bridge, and near a lovely grassy field, stood a gigantic old oak tree. I would either sit down against the base of the tree between the large roots, or hoist myself up to the first limb and just sit there and enjoy the ICEE and the day. I still remember that great old tree, though sadly someone eventually cut it down to make room for a new house.

As is typical of post oaks, it was squatty, quite wider in spread than it was tall, with limbs that came straight out from the trunk, the lowest limb maybe eight feet up from the ground. If my memory serves me correctly it would have been about four feet in diameter with a limb spread of 60-70 feet. I miss that old tree.

Along the way I learned that it was a post oak. I can’t say why really but the post oak has become my favorite oak tree, and I happy that they are all over Greensboro.

Even if you don’t know much about trees, you’ve walked under post oaks many times, and it’s not hard for me to help you know when you’re looking up at one.

The post oak is in the white oak family. Among other things this means that the leaves are smooth edged – no pointy bristle tips. Post oak leaves tend to be somewhat dark and glossy-green on top and lighter and somewhat hairy on the undersides. Often the leaf veins are quite prominent. In comparison to other oaks, post oak limbs tend to come straight out from the trunk. They also tend to be crowded (which makes them good climbing trees).

But the single biggest giveaway of the post oak is the shape of the leaf. After I finish typing this I will do a little web search until I find and provide a good link or two for some pictures of post oak trees and leaves. But for now let me just say that the post oak leaf is shaped very much like a Maltese cross. It is quite unique and distinctive in this way. There is no other leaf like it. As to size, we’re talking maybe 4-6 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. Post oak leaves have a habit of not wanting to fall off the tree in the fall, so often post oaks in winter have a fair number of brown hanger-on leaves. As to fall color, well, the post oak isn’t much in that department. Sometimes with the right soil conditions there is a decent show of red. There is often better color in the Spring. As the little leaves unfurl in the Spring they tend to be reddish in color, and this adds to the diverse color palate of early Spring trees.

The post oak trunk tends towards a ruddy brownish-gray color, and is somewhat vertically fissured, occasionally also horizontally fissured leaving a blocked appearance, the more so the older the tree gets.

So, why is it called a post oak? Given its craggy and somewhat scraggly appearance, and tendency toward breadth rather than height, it certainly isn’t because of shape. Well, apparently, according to my tree books, the wood is very dense and hard, and decomposes very slowly, and was thus used by our pioneer ancestors for fence posts, and later for railroad ties. It could have been called “railroad tie oak,” but that doesn’t sound very good. I like “cross oak,” named after the shape of the leaf, but then, I would like that.

There are a whole bunch of post oaks near my office at Bessemer and Elm Street. There are quite a few lining North Elm on the right side as one heads out of downtown, and there are many throughout Fisher Park neighborhood. There is a HUGE post oak in a back yard on the corner of Bessemer and Cherry or Olive. I am thankful that in my own neighborhood of North Hills there is quite a nice post oak right at the corner of Beaconwood and Ropley, and since the post oak is my favorite oak tree, that nice specimen gives me a smile as I walk around the neighborhood.

According to the Guilford County Treasure Tree program, our largest post oak is on the property of Aycock School, coming in at 84 feet in height, 50 inches in diameter, with a spread of 84.5 feet. Here is a link with pretty decent pictures: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?I...