Tree With Unique Bark

February 4, 2026

I enjoy trees that I can identify by just looking at the bark. One of those trees, a White Oak (Quercus alba). Its bark on lower surfaces is a blocky pattern. On the upper surfaces there are overlapping thin plates of very pale gray, in an assortment of thin, flakey scales, arranged in a pattern that looks like vertical shingles.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.