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Pin Oak Scientific Name: Quercus palustris Common Name: Pin Oak Division: Magnoliophyta  Family: Fagaceae Genus: Quercus GENERAL DESCRIPTION Pin oak — also called swamp oak — is a common component on wet clay soils, often on sites that are flooded for some time during the growing season. The tree does make an easy transition to dryer sites, where it is quick to establish and makes an excellent street or park tree. The pin oak can be easily identified by its unique silhouette; the straight trunk has ascending upper branches, horizontal middle branches, and drooping lower branches.  It is the most common oak in Central Park. Pin Oak tree west of the tennis courts at West 97th Street

Flower   Male and female grow on same tree: male borne on slender drooping yellow-green catkins, female reddish-green on short spikes appearing in spring when tree leafs out. Fruit Acorn 1/2 inch long, matures after 2 years.   Striated with thin, saucer-like cup.  Some young trees have a tendency to keep their leaves long into the winter. Leaf   3 to 6 inches long with 7 to 9 deep lobes with pointed tips. In fall turns red, russet, or bronze. Leaves remain on tree through most of the winter.  Bark   Gray with shallow furrows.   Form:  Medium-sized, pyramid-shaped. LOCATIONS IN CENTRAL PARK Strawberry Fields at West Drive  59th Street Pond  East Green  Dairy lawn  East 98th Street entrance to East Meadow  101th Street & East Drive Photo Credit: Steve Baskauf, bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/ Matthew Brown, Central Park Conservancy Neil Calvanese, Central Park Conservancy