Size

• White oak grows to 80 feet on average with some approaching 100 feet tall. Its width often equals the tree's height, as the wide-spreading limbs form a rounded crown. The red oak grows to 75 feet with a canopy of branches more rounded and not as far reaching. Red oaks have narrower trunks than white oaks, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern region." White oak trunks average between 3 and 4 feet, but those of red oak are in the range of 1 to 2-½ feet in diameter.
  
  

Leaves

• The leaves on the red oak are slightly wider than the white oak. Both leaves grow to 8 or 9 inches in length. The biggest difference between the two species is the shape of the leaf. The five to nine lobes of white oak are round at the edges, while the red oak has between seven and 11 lobes with have pointy tips featuring bristles. White oak leaves are a dull shade of blue-green; red oak foliage is dark green. In autumn, the white oak leaf changes to tints of red-purple, while red oak leaves change to yellows, reds or tans.
  
  

Other Differences

• The bark of white oak is light gray with a scaly appearance. Red oak's bark is dark gray, sometimes almost black, with rough bark. The acorns of these two oak species are alike except for their caps. Those of the red oak are a bit shallower than those on the white oak are. The growth rates are not akin with red oak maturing faster than does the white oak. Red oak has more tolerance for urban conditions, notes the University of Connecticut Plant Database.
  
  

Similarities

• Both red and white oak trees require sites receiving full sun, six or more hours per day, and both species grow best in acidic soil. Both serve as shade trees, losing their foliage in late fall. Their ranges overlap, with red oak distribution extending into northern New England and southern Canada, and that of white oak more southerly going into northern Florida. Red oak has a more tolerance to cold, growing into U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone 3, but both easily survive in zones 4 through zone 8.