Unknown Oak in a pot pic - can I upload it?

[Shadowjewel]

I have an oak seedling that I am unable to identify; it has unusually dark leaves that don't match anything I have seen before, and searches in books, online and through asking friends has come up blank too - and I'm not too bad when it comes to hunting for an ID. The reason why it is in a pot is because it was originally found growing in a flowerbed and would have been dug up and thrown to compost if it had stayed there. Does it qualify for an upload on to the gallery to help with an identify? I have two pics I am most interesting in sharing, taken a few weeks apart in different quality light that show the different colours in the leaves (red and green) and the new growth it has had recently. I have others that show the green under leaves and the new growth before it turned bright red, but if I need to put a limit I'll keep to those first two as they show it best.

[Lance Morgan]

Its pretty easy to identify the different types of oak from their leaves stalks etc. Difficult to tell without a decent piccy.
have a look here:
Common Oak (Quercus robur)

[Shadowjewel]

Hehe, and this is why I wanted to upload a couple of pics. As I said, I'm not too bad at tracking down an ID for trees, plants, birds, whatever, but this has me stumped - I have been wracking my brain over it for weeks. Its gotten to the point that I'm thinking it might be an exotic that doesn't usually get a mention in the references or even a cross spices hybrid or a mutation (personally, my money is on hybrid right now), because nothing seems to match at all. Every Oak I have looked up has green leaves when they are mature, this one has a blend of green and red which makes it look almost black. The shape is similar to the picture in the link you provided, but with less defined edges. If you know of an oak with leaves like that then by all means let me know and save me further trouble LOL (seriously, I have had this seedling for a few months now, I just want to know what it is! Aside from it being an 'Odd' Oak that is, lol. ).

[Lance Morgan]

Turkey Oak, Holme Oak maybe:
Hainault Forest Website
This is a good site for trees, sorry if you have already seen these. I'll shut up

[Shadowjewel]

Nope, no match - I have looked at pics of many, many types of oak recently, and yes, I think these were among them, lol. Thanks for trying though.

It goes back to the colour of the leaves again - I'm not kidding when I say it isn't just the normal green; it is green AND red. Which is more visible seems to depend on the light - red in shadow, green in bright light. It's difficult to explain without seeing it or using other examples of trees and plants that have the same or similar colouration. Hence the need for a pic for the ID. I wasn't sure the pics would be accepted here though, since the seedling in question is currently sitting in a pot until I can find a permeant home for it, which probably wont be for a while. It was a case of either keep it in a pot or leave it somewhere it couldn't stay and risk it being killed when it gets too big or we attempt to transplant it - no way was I gonna risk losing such an intriguing little tree *pets baby oak*.

[Monkster]

Hello Shadowjewel
Welcome to the WAB!!
That sounds like an interesting little oak tree you have there.
If you upload your photo onto the 'forum Images' on the Gallery page and then add it to your id request on the 'Wildflowers, plants and trees' forum I'm sure someone will be able to help.
It took me 2 months to pluck up courage to add a photo although I have seen people upload on their first visit!! (very impressive).
Anyway, good luck and see you on the forums.

[Shadowjewel]

Thanks.

I'll look into that now - to be honest I thought it would have to go into the plants and trees section, just goes to show how new I am! lol.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Shadowjewel

Thanks.

I'll look into that now - to be honest I thought it would have to go into the plants and trees section, just goes to show how new I am! lol.

plants and trees is a moderated gallery so it can take up to 48 hors for images to be approved.

forum images and unidentified images are unmoderated and also dont require images to be resized so one of these is the way to go with pics of your oak - i would think since you are looking for an id , un id'd is the best place to put them.

if appropriate an editor can transfer the pic into plants and trees once it has been identified.

hope that helps and welcome to wab