Red And White Oak Wood

Red and white oak are two of the most commonly used woods in North America. Although their color and grain patterning are slightly different, both woods are strong and easy to work with. Red oak is a light tan, with a reddish cast, while white oak is light beige-brown, with an olive cast.

Oak wood enjoys a wide range of uses: cabinetry, furniture, interior trim, flooring, boatbuilding, barrels, veneer, and specialty items. Barrels made from white oak are commonly used for aging wine and whiskey, as the wood is known for imparting strong flavors. By American federal regulation, bourbon whiskey must be aged in charred white oak barrels.

There is a great amount of lore surrounding the oak tree, much of it originating from stories of the ancient druids. Pliny the Elder, who lived in Gaul during the 1st century CE, wrote that the druids performed all of their religious ceremonies in oak groves, where they gathered mistletoe from the trees with a golden sickle. Maximus of Tyre, a second century Greek philosopher, describes the Celts as worshiping Taranis, the god of thunder, as a tall oak tree. Elsewhere it is written that the druids of Gaul ate acorns from the oak tree as a way of divining the future.

White oak (Quercus alba) grows in Eastern North America. A typical tree grows between 65 and 80 feet, with a trunk diameter of 3 to 4 feet. It is not unusual for a white oak tree’s canopy to be as wide as the tree is tall. The white oak is the state tree of Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland.

Red oak (Quercus rubra) also grows in Eastern North America. An average sized tree will grow 90 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet, but in rare cases can reach heights of up to 140 feet. It is the state tree of New Jersey, and the Provincial tree of Price Edward Island.