Pith On The Inside Shows Through On The Outside

One of the characteristics of oak twigs is the angular exterior.  You can roll a twig between your fingers and tell whether it is an oak or not, by the sharp edges around its circumference.  Post Oak (above) and bur oak both have extra stout twigs, and those edges are not really evident, but the other oaks all show the angles on the ends of their twigs.  The stout twigs of post oak are really good for showing the star shaped oak pith to students, because the pith is easily seen without magnification.

Black oak has much slimmer twigs, and if you don't know what you are looking for, you can miss the star in the middle.  Black oak, red oak, and shingle oak have very little meat surrounding the pith on the tips of twigs, and the star shape really comes through on the outside.


This is one of those Statcounter-created posts.  I like to see what brings folks to this little blog, and someone did a search a few days ago for "inside of an oak twig."   If someone makes that search again, they might see the picture they were looking for.