Also called ◼︎ black oak, but so are two other species of oaks in other parts of the world.  Its outer-bark is black.  Also called ◼︎ yellow oak.  Its inner-bark is yellow (various sources) or green (seen by this author when fresh-shaved).  One of the ◼︎ red oaks.

Part of oak  genus Quercus in beech / oak  family Fagaceae in bayberry / beech / birch / oak / walnut  order Fagales.

Native to very-southern 🇨🇦 Canada, and much of the 🇺🇸 USA east of the 🗻︎ Rocky Mountains.   🗺 Map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48), 🗺 map (North America, Central America),  Adobe Acrobat Reader file 🗺 today + with climate change (eastern 🇺🇸 USA).

In this area:

  • do not move firewood (ever), and
  • do not prune February through June (Texas) or April 15 through July 15 (🇺🇸 USA Midwest and East),
due to possible infestation by oak wilt disease (OWD)  Bretziella fagacearum.

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
  Its 🪵 wood is used to make furniture and barrels (usually for dry goods — ◼︎ red oak has open pores, while ◼︎ white oak has occluded pores).

♧🌰︎☠︎ Leaves and acorns toxic[?] to humans, although many cultures process acorns to remove their tannins, making acorns an important staple food.

Quercus hosts caterpillars of 534 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
  This plant is also known to be a host for (in areas where invasive) 🐝︎ spotted lanternfly (SLF)  Lycorma delicatula.

If your oak is growing a few meters (yards) from a potential parent tree, its 🌰︎ acorn probably fell there, or was cached and forgotten by a squirrel  family Sciuridae.

If your oak is growing a kilometer (mile) away from a potential parent tree, its 🌰︎ acorn probably was cached and forgotten by a 🐦︎ jay  family Corvidae, with whom it coevolved.

    — That and lots more interesting information in interview "Our Most Essential Trees: The Nature of Oaks, with Doug Tallamy"  The joe gardener Show.  or its 🔊︎ audio

In landscaping, makes a great ⛱ shade tree.

Learn more about ◼︎ eastern black oak Quercus velutina

🔍︎ 🔍︎ images Discover Life Encyclopedia of Life Michigan Flora (Minnesota) Wildflower Garden Minnesota Wildflowers Missouri Botanical Garden Native Plant Trust Flora of North America USDA PLANTS db USFS USFS Silvics Wikipedia