What Tree Is This?
I picked up this leaf and nut from the sidewalk in Capitol Hill, Washington DC, last weekend. These huge trees lined the street all around the park and there were multiple nuts that looked like acorns until you noticed that the caps were really spiculated - not at all like a traditional oak acorns. On the left is the inside of an empty cap and on the right a drawing of a cap with the nut facing up. The cap actually has the spicules covering it entirely.
The leaves were as long and narrow as I depicted, but the veins were actually symmetric - and I didn't manage to keep them that way when I painted the leaf. I have no idea how the leaves were placed on the branch or what the bark looked like. None of the tree identification web sites helped me identify this tree, so I'm hoping someone in EDM can do it. Lin?
Comments
Hi Shirley! Burr oaks have acorns with caps like that, but I have no idea about the leaf! The leaves had spiky bits on the tips? Cool...
Posted by: Cathy (Kate) Johnson | October 17, 2008 3:32 PM
Shirley, take a look at this:
http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Quercus_Burr.html
According to that site I posted, Bur Oaks are common in DC. The leaf doesn't seem to match, but the nut does. Any chance the leaf was from a different tree?
Posted by: Karen Winters | October 17, 2008 3:58 PM
Really, is it fall and you are collecting leaves and nuts????? I don't know what this is either. I wish it would cool down here....I'm tired of the endless summer heat.
Posted by: ``mARTa | October 18, 2008 12:52 AM
I came to visit via the Virtual Sketch Date.
I believe this to be a sawtooth oak.
quercus accutissma
If you google 'sawtooth oak acorn' and then look at the images, I bet it will answer the question!
Posted by: leslie | December 12, 2008 10:10 AM
Dear Artist,
I am from Washington DC, I am a Washingtonian -who went to Kensington Junior High and then BCC, this leaf makes me somewhat homesick....I am in Boston.
I would like to speak to you about two books I am working on, if you have time.
Best Regards.
Mark
Posted by: mark young | January 2, 2009 7:40 PM
It looks like a sweet chestnut. You can eat the nut if you roast it.
Posted by: PHILIPPA | July 23, 2009 5:42 PM