Pin oak is a swamp oak of the red oaks, its Latin epithet translated as "of the wetland." Pin oak is not native in eastern Massachusetts, though its natural range marginally reaches some south-central and south-western parts of the state. As a tree favored for street plantings, it is rather widespread around Boston and sometimes escapes from cultivation. It can be recognized by its long-retained lower limbs and branches pointing down and often forming a dense beard at the bottom of the trunk.