Distinguishing Red Oak from White Oak
Generally speaking, oak species can be placed into one of two categories: red oak or white oak. When purchasing red or white oak flooring, you actually may not be purchasing Quercus rubra or Quercus alba, but instead, you may be purchasing one of the oaks contained within the two broad red and white groupings. The red oak group contains several species of oak that share many similar characteristics, just as the white oak group contains several species of oak that share many similar characteristics. The general red oak group will share a similar pinkish cast, while the general white oak group will share a similar olive-colored cast.
Telling the difference between the two can be challenging. The following are a few identifiers to look for: Color Differences (both red oak and white oak can have a broad range in color variation):
OAK, WHITE
• Red oak color has more salmon, pink, and red undertones. Red oak heartwood is a light biscuit- to medium-brown with a reddish to pinkish cast. White to light-brown sapwood isn’t always sharply demarcated from the heartwood.
• White oak tends to be a bit darker and has more beige, olive, and brownish hues. White oak heartwood can vary from light, to medium-brown, to pale yellow-brown or dark pale-brown, commonly with an olive cast. White to light brown sapwood isn’t always demarcated from the heartwood.
Differentiating red oak from white oak:
• A quick and fairly reliable way to tell red oak from white oak is simply by looking at the endgrain. When viewing the endgrain, the large earlywood pores found in red oak are open and empty. The pores of white oaks are plugged with tyloses. The presence of tyloses is perhaps the best and most reliable way to distinguish the two oaks from one another. Tyloses is why white oak works so well for wine and whiskey barrels. When viewing the endgrain, make sure that you’re viewing the heartwood of the board in question. While white oak has abundant tyloses in the heartwood, it frequently is lacking in the sapwood section.
