Editing Quercus rubra (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
The species grows from the north end of the [[Great Lakes (North America)|Great Lakes]], east to [[Nova Scotia]], south as far as [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Mississippi]], [[Alabama]], and [[Louisiana]], and west to [[Oklahoma]], [[Kansas]], [[Nebraska]], and [[Minnesota]].<ref>{{BONAP|ref|genus=Quercus|species=rubra}}</ref>

It grows rapidly and is tolerant of many soils and varied situations, although it prefers the glacial drift and well-drained borders of streams.<ref name="Keeler" /> In the southeastern United States, it is frequently a part of the canopy in an [[oak-heath forest]], but generally not as important as some other oaks.<ref>[http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/ncTIIIe.shtml ''The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Community Groups'' (Version 2.3), Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105224138/http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/ncTIIIe.shtml|date=January 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>Schafale, M. P. and A. S. Weakley. 1990. ''Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina: third approximation''. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation.</ref><ref name="FNA" />

Northern red oak is the most common species of oak in the northeastern US after the closely related [[pin oak]] (''Q.&nbsp;palustris''). The red oak group as a whole are more abundant today than they were when European settlement of North America began as forest clearing and exploitation for lumber much reduced the population of the formerly dominant white oaks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steward |first=Robert M. |title=Boatbuilding manual |date=1994 |publisher=International Marine |isbn=978-0-87742-379-9 |edition=4th |location=Camden, Me}}</ref>