Pretty sure it's an oak. What species........can't tell. I'd guess it's in the black-oak group. The parent tree(s) are most likely pretty close.

FWIW, the leaves look very much like the seedlings of pin oak (quercus palustris) that i'm raising from seed collected last fall. that said, the advice to look for whatever red oak trees nearby (rubra, palustris, rubra, coccinea, rubra, velutina, etc., etc..---even q. phellos the "willow oak" is a kind of red oak) is probably a good way to determine the most likely "parent" tree species. good luck.

Our neighbors across the street from me roughly 100' away from my mulch bed has some very large oaks that are well over 100' tall. I'm almost positive they are pin oaks.... the leaves of those oaks are deeply lobed and sharp. Those are the only oaks that I know of around here... but it confused me because the seedlings look nothing like the neighbors. I'm at work now, but I'll post some photos of a leaf from there tree later tonight.

If it is a pin Oak... are these seedlings worth saving and growing a few or are there much better oak varieties in terms of leaf shape and fall color?

As first-year seedlings, most Red oaks look more or less the same - although I will say that my Scarlet Oak seedlings definitely have a "broader" leaf than those by far, so they're probably NOT Scarlet. They are probably Pins, from the Pin Oak seedlings I've seen, but I think N. Red looks pretty similar as well at that stage.

I'm personally not a fan of Pin Oak - nothing against them per se - but, they're extremely overplanted, often in unsuitable locations (high pH, too dry, etc). There are several better red oaks out there depending on your site/needs (Scarlet for dry sites, Nuttall for moist to wet, Shumard, Northern Red for either moist or dry, etc).

SOME Pin Oaks can have nice fall color, but many do not. In MD you see some nice reds and russetts but others just turn brown, especially if there is any insect, drought, or Oak Leaf Blister pressure.

This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 8:24

I would guess Q. Rubra or Q. Velutina. Velutina more likely, but I've never seen a Pin oak at that age/size either.

I dont know what kind of tree that is, but i would hate to be the one to clear all those pine needles away.
Good luck.