Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria) also known as laurel oak have leaves 3 to 6 inches long and the leaves or sort of oval shaped with out the lobes of your classic oak leaf. There are only a few oaks with leaves that look like this so identification of these trees is pretty easy. Similiar oaks would be water oak, willow oak, laurel oak and obtusa oak. Each have similiar but different leaves. Willow and laurel oak leaves are skinnier, water oaks are bigger at the end not the middle and obtusa oak leaves are more diamond shaped and less rounded.
Shingle oaks get their name from the fact that the wood splits easily and was once used for shingles due to the ease with which it can be made into shingles.
Shingle oaks are red oaks that range from Pennsylvania south to North Carolina, west to Louisiana and Arkansas and north to Iowa and Michigan.
The acorns is highly valued by wildlife such as deer, squirrels, turkeys, and raccoons. Leaves are used to build nest by birds, squirrels, and raccoons and older trees with cavities homes for various birds and mammals.