Black oak's specific name (velutina) derives from the Latin word for fleece, which refers to the leaves that are densely downy
(hairy) when young. Mature leaves are very dark yellowish-green and shiny, with 5-7 bristle-tipped lobes. Black oak can easily
fool people because the lower shade leaves and the upper sun leaves look completely different. Lower leaves are usually large
and very wide at the apex. They can be irregularly lobed with shallow sinuses between the lobes, or hardly lobed at all. The
sun leaves at the top of the crown are smaller and have very deep u-shaped sinuses. Black oak bark is uniformly furrowed all
along the trunk forming irregular small plates and is very dark gray (black). The inner bark contains a yellow pigment called
quercitron, which was sold commercially in Europe until the 1940s. This tree produces reliable acorn crops every 2-3 years, which are
readily consumed by insects, squirrels, mice, voles, white-tailed deer, and wild turkey. Trunk cavities in live black oaks
were important nest sites for the northern flicker on Nantucket Island. Native Americans used black oak to treat a wide variety
of ailments including indigestion, chills and fevers. It was also used as an antiseptic. Gypsy moth, an introduced species,
defoliates black oak, and two or three successive defoliations can kill a tree.