Southeast Line Rd. area, unnamed pondlet 1 of 3. This oak was first taken for the non-native pin oak due to persistent dead branches at lower bowl. In this case, the habitat--a rather steep bank of a small pondlet--was intermediate between uphill (for scarlet oak) and lowland (for pin oak), and leaf shape did not help, either, as leaves of these two oaks look very similar. However, the bark spoke for scarlet oak; additionally, it was hard to imagine the appearance of an introduced oak in this remote area of the Forest.