Scarlet, _Q. coccinea_ Muenchh., Northern Red, _Q. rubra_ L., and Shumard Oak, _Q. shumardii_ Buckl., are difficult to distinguish. Northern red oak leaves have shallow sinuses and a dull-green upper surface with little or no pubescence in the vein axils on the underside. Shumard oak leaves have a glossier surface, shallow to deep sinuses that are usually wider than the adjacent lobes, and definite hairiness at the vein axils. The sinuses of scarlet oak are also usually wider than their adjacent lobes, which are usually toothed. Both Shumard and scarlet oak have outstanding fall coloration. Blackjack Oak, _Q. marilandica_ Muenchh., can be recognized by its leathery, usually entire, broadly obovate leaf, which has a rusty undersurface. The branches are stout, irregular, gnarled, drooping to horizontal. Laurel Oak, _Q. laurifolia_ Michx., and Water Oak, _Q. nigra_ L., are similar in size and shape, but water oak has oblong-obovate or spatula-shaped leaves gradually narrowed to a wedge-shaped base. Laurel oak leaves are elliptic to oblong-ovate. Laurel oaks tend to shed leaves late and thus may retain about 30 to 50 percent of their lower leaves after water oaks are bare. Some recent authors separate the laurel oaks into two species, upland laurel oak, _Q. hemisphaerica_ Bartr., and swamp laurel oak, _Q. laurifolia_ Michx. White Oak, _Q. alba_ L., has a thin, light green leaf with a light glaucous bloom at maturity; it is oblong or ovate, with rounded lobes and three to five narrow sinuses extending nearly to the mid-rib. The cup scales of the acorn-cup are heavy and distinct. Post Oak, _Q. stellata_ Wangenh., has stout, irregular branches. The leathery leaves are usually five-lobed; usually the two side lobes are at right angles to the central axis, thus forming a cross-shaped leaf. Chestnut Oak, _Q. prinus_ L., resembles swamp chestnut oak, _Q. michauxii_ Nutt., a commercially important tree southwide. Chestnut oak is primarily a northeastern tree, extending into the South along the Appalachian highlands into northern Georgia and Alabama where its range overlaps that of swamp chestnut oak, and its leaves lack the dense pubescence found on those of swamp chestnut oak.