The forest floor may just look like a carpet of brown this time each  year; however, if you stop and take a closer look, you’ll actually find a diverse mixture of leaf size, shape and hue.

Five species of oaks can be found on Crystal Bridges Orchard Trail.

Did you know that the Orchard Trail forest alone contains approximately 20 species of trees?   Of the 20 species, 5 are different types of oak trees.  Oak species are split in two groups:  the White Oaks and the Red Oaks.  The main difference is the White Oak group has smooth leaf ends (called lobes) while the Red Oak group has a bristle on the leaf lobes. Flip through the gallery below to learn how to differentiate them!

Oaks are a pillar in American horticulture and are crucial to our biodiversity by providing food to over 500 species of butterflies and moths, as well as to numerous species of mammals and birds.  The tree is so important that it was named our national tree!