Can anyone help me ID this street tree? Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) is my guess, but I would like to be sure...how do we know it's not Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) ?
Some close-up pics showing the upper and under sides of a leaf, and an acorn if present, would help a lot.
Some close-up can be seen in Google Street View at 49.269236,-123.00307 Q. palustris normally has wider sinuses and narrow lobes. In additions to Q. coccinea, this could also be Q. velutina or Q. shumardii; some trees in this row also show shallow sinuses which suggests Q. rubra. http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/tree-key/oak-key.htm
Curved branches and outlines of leaves say scarlet oak to me. Trees elsewhere in same planting with differing traits could be accounted for by mixing in of other species or hybrid specimens - hybrid oaks are seen both in the wild and in cultivation; one scarlet oak cultivar long grown in Europe as 'Splendens' has become identified as a probable, if not definite hybrid in more recent times. I had noticed in photos of it that the leaves were not very deeply lobed.
The hybrids may be quite variable. I recently visited the Cottam's Grove hybrid oak collection. Here are some photos taken there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/sets/72157637865889033/
Fascinating. How did you come with these coordinates based on the original post? Unless you know the area . . . ?
Image lists 'Brentwood Town Centre' in captured search bar, presumably easy to situate it from that. *looks like saltcedar and I posted a simultaneous response...
