Hewitt Island, Perryopolis, PA

[edfrank]

Will,

Yes the oak tree is a scarlet oak as far as I could tell.  It seemed pretty clear when looking at it in person.  The maple could possibly be a cross with fremanii, but I would not know what to look for to distinguish it from a simple red maple.  Elswhere on the tree the bark and leaves looked like pretty standard red maple and I think that is the best ID for the tree.

Ed

[Jess Riddle]

Ed,

I know you said scarlet oak seemed like a pretty clear ID, but did you consider pin oak?  I started wondering about pin oak when I saw how brown the bark is.  It seems like the site is dominated by upland species, but scarlet oak still seems odd for a river island.  If it is a pin oak, it would be the tallest we have on record, unless there has been a more recent find.

Jess

[edfrank]

Jess,

I don't remember the tree well enough to comment.  I know we both were confident it was scarlet oak.  We had both bark and leaves to look at. I don't remember seeing acorns.  This area of the tree has some elevation above the river... I don't have a good answer for you, but at the time I felt good about scarlet oak.

Ed

[Steve Galehouse]

Ed, Jess-

The photo of the tree sure looks like scarlet oak to me, and not at all like pin oak---pin oak is the commonest oak in my area, and the bark in the photo isn't right for it. In my area, red, scarlet, pin, and black oaks intermingle regardless of elevation or drainage, so although not typical for a scarlet oak to be found on an island, not so surprising either.

Steve