Quercus rubra Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 2: 996. 1753.

"Habitat in Virginia, Carolina." RCN: 7217.

Lectotype (designated here by Nixon & Barrie): [icon] " Quercus esculi divisura, foliis ampleoribus aculeatis, an Quercus alba Virginiana Park. " in Plukenet, Phytographia: t. 54, f. 4. 1691; Almag. Bot.: 309. 1696.

Current name: Quercus rubra L. ( Fagaceae).

Note: Linnaeus included several different taxa within his concept of Q. rubra . Although most early authors applied it to the northern red oak, Sargent (in Rhodora 17: 39. 1915; l.c. 18: 45. 1916) argued that the name should be used for the species widely known as Q. falcata Michx. Others (e.g. Svenson, l.c. 41: 521. 1941; 47: 298, 366. 1945; and Fernald (in J. Arnold Arbor. 27: 391. 1946) disagreed but as a result of this divergence, some (e.g. Rehder in J. Arnold. Arbor. 19: 283. 1938) have treated the the name as a nomen ambiguum. However, as the name continues to be in use, the name is formally typified here in its traditional sense, that of the northern red oak.