Baby Oak tree - but which kind?

Zone 6a,

Hi there, this little gaffer started growing in my backyard last year. I potted it up this summer, so it wouldn't get dug up or weed-wacked over in error. All the roots are present and accounted for, including the remains of the acorn! The cage around it keeps the racoons and squirrels from digging it out (it's been done!).

The leaves are light green in summer, rounded but the points are visibly and you can see the veins have already turned red.

Any idea which type of oak this is? Thanks in advance. ...vc

 

Something in the red oak group (Q. rubra, Q. coccinea etc.), what is growing nearby?

 

Hi Ron, there are a couple Oaks, but their leaves the deep grooves and are dark green - not like this at all. Some poor squirrell brought it a long way to bury, then forgot about it!

 

Mature leaves appear as the seedling gets a little bigger and older.

 

Given your location, it's most likely Red Oak (Q. rubra) and a slim chance it's Black Oak (Q. velutina). The commonly planted Pin Oak (Q. palustris) does so poorly on the limestone based glacial till in Southern Ontario that it rarely gets to a size to bear acorns & when it does, they are carried sparsely...so probably not Pin Oak either.

 

Hi, (My last "thank you" post didn't make it) I'll wait ( a few years) to see what the REAL leaves look like. It will probably be a red oak, given where we're located. Thanks again!