Northern Red Oak

See Flowering Dogwood

(Quercus borealis maxima)

Adopted on June 13, 1950.

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The official state tree is the red oak, Quercus borealis maxima. The red oak was authorized by a Joint Resolution signed by Governor Alfred E. Driscoll June 13, 1950. The state memorial tree is the dogwood, authorized by Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 2 of 1951.

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The red oak is a hardwood tree that you can recognize by its pointy-lobed leaves with prickly tips. It produces many acorns, an important food for the Native Americans of long ago. In autumn the leaves turn a vibrant red, adding bursts of color to our rural landscapes.

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), also known as common red oak, eastern red oak, mountain red oak, and gray oak, is widespread in the East and grows on a variety of soils and topography, often forming pure stands. Moderate to fast growing, this tree is one of the more important lumber species of red oak and is an easily transplanted, popular shade tree with good form and dense foliage.

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Description:

• Leaf: Alternate, simple, 5 to 8 inches long, oblong in shape with 7 to 11 hairless bristle-tipped lobes.
• Flower: Staminate flowers borne on catkins. Pistillate flowers borne on spikes. Appears with the leaves in April or May.
• Fruit: Acorns are 3/4 to 1 inch long and nearly round. with less than 1/3 covered by the flat, saucerlike cup. The cap is flat and thick, covering about 1/4 of the acorn. Cup covered by reddish-brown, tightly overlapping scales. Matures in 2 years, ripens August to late October.
• Twig: Quite stout, red-brown and glabrous. Terminal buds are multiple, quite large, ovoid, and covered with red-brown, mostly hairless scales.
• Bark: On young stems, smooth. Older bark develops wide, flat-topped ridges and shallow furrows. The shallow furrows form a pattern resembling ski tracts.
• Form: A medium-sized to large tree that develops a short trunk and round crown when open grown, straight with a clear bole when grown with competition.

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New Jersey State Tree

Flowering Dogwood

See Northern Red Oak

(Cornus florida)

Adopted on January 15, 1951.

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The official state tree is the red oak, Quercus borealis maxima. The red oak was authorized by a Joint Resolution signed by Governor Alfred E. Driscoll June 13, 1950. The state memorial tree is the dogwood, authorized by Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 2 of 1951.

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White flowers bloom in spring. Dark green foliage changes to red in fall. Red berries remain on tree late in fall.

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Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is one of America's most popular ornamental trees. Known to most people simply as dogwood, it has other common names, including boxwood and cornel. The species name florida is Latin for flowering, but the showy petal-like bracts are not in fact flowers. The bright red fruit of this fast-growing short-lived tree are poisonous to humans but provide a great variety of wildlife with food. The wood is smooth, hard and close-textured and now used for specialty products.

Description:

• Leaf: Opposite, simple, arcuately veined, 3 to 6 inches long, oval in shape with an entire margin.
• Flower: Very small, but surrounded by 4 large white (occasionally pink) bracts, 2 inches in diameter. Appearing March to April in the south, June in the north.
• Fruit: A shiny, oval red drupe, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, in clusters of 3 to 4. Maturing in September to October.
• Twig: Slender, green or purple, later turning gray, often with a glaucous bloom. The terminal flower buds are clove-shaped, vegetative buds resemble a cat claw.
• Bark: Gray when young, turning very scaly to blocky.
• Form: A small tree with a short trunk that branches low, producing a flat-topped crown. Branches are opposite, and assume a "candelabra" appearance.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 2 of 1951.

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