Leaf: Simple, alternate on stem, length 5" to 9" and about half as broad; crowded toward ends of twigs, deeply divided into five to nine fingerlike lobes; young leaf yellow or red while unfolding, later becoming light green above and much paler below; turns red or brown in autumn; sometimes remains on tree most of the winter.
For more information see
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/trees_shrubs/deciduous/whiteoak.html.