Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Scarlet Oak

“This week I wanted to point out a tree that caught my eye just recently, although I have passed by it many times,” says Sarah Low, executive director of the Tacoma Tree Foundation. “Just across from Puget Creek Park at the corner of North 31st and Proctor Street, stands a beautifully cared for centerpiece of a tree. I believe this tree is a scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea. I say that with a little hesitation because scarlet oak looks very similar to pin oak and, in fact, they are very closely related. They are part of the larger red oak family made up of scarlet oak, red oak, black oak, pin oak, and so many others.”

This North Tacoma scarlet oak is this week’s Tree-dimensional Tacoma, Peaks & Pints’ weekly Tacoma tree column. Inspired by our house beer, Kulshan Brewing Tree-dimensional IPA, Peaks & Pints branches out for a weekly look at terrific trees of Tacoma, in conjunction with our friends at Tacoma Tree Foundation.

scarlet-oak-leaf-tacoma “If you take a look at the leaves, you will see deep C-shaped sinuses and 5 to 9 lobes,” explains Low. “Sinuses are the part of the leaf that curves toward the center of the leaf (the main vein or midrib) and the lobes are the part that points out away from the center of the leaf. Taking a good look at these lobes and sinuses will train your eyes to see all of the many oaks around us, and, oh my goodness, they are so worth the attention. Looking at an oak like this one, you can understand why the word oak is associated with unwavering strength and stability.”

Check out the scarlet oak, and then head south a couple blocks for a growler fill of Tree-dimensional IPA (6.8%) at Peaks & Pints. Kulshan Brewing collaborated with the Tacoma craft beer lodge on their house beer. Paying homage to the outdoor enthusiasts who join Peaks daily in Tacoma’s Proctor District, Tree-dimensional IPA is the perfect beer to toast the powder, currents or trails, as well as reveal the sprains. Tree-dimensional IPA, or Tree-D, continues Peaks & Pints’ love affair with old school piney IPAs, this time brewed with Simcoe, Idaho 7, CTZ, Centennial, and whole leaf Cascade in the hop back for all the pine, a little citrus, with a creamy mouthfeel and bitter finish.

Deer-in-North-Tacoma — *There’s a wilderness still inside the city.*

Tacoma Tree Foundation is dedicated to educating, empowering, and supporting community members in neighborhood-based greening. In other words, the Tacoma organization strives for a greener, healthier, more connected Tacoma — which plants well with Peaks and Pints. We will host TTF fundraisers during Tree-dimensional IPA’s reign as our house beer, which pours through October 2020.

LINK: Kulshan brews Peaks and Pints Tree-dimensional IPA

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Sugar Maple

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Tulip Poplar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Giant Sequoia

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Pin Oak

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Douglas Fir

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Incense Cedar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Plume Sawara Cypress

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Western Red Cedar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Ponderosa lemon hybrid

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: London planetrees

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: “Vanderwolf’s Pyramid” limber pine