Just a couple of bits of info. to add to Equilibrium's excellent list.
"? Oak (Quercus falcata)..." Southern Red Oak
"Shin Oak (Quercus sinuata var. brevilob)..." It's most commonly known as Bastard Oak or Bigelow Oak, and probably just a typo, but it should be breviloba
"? Oak (Quercus gravesii)..." Is most commonly known as Chisos Red Oak, or Graves Oak. It's a good choice with good red fall colors occurring very late in the fall season(maybe even early winter). Canby Oak(Q. canbyi) is another similar Oak that is a good choice. It tends to be more evergreen, but can have similar good red fall colors, but usually this occurs in midwinter if at all. It's also sold in the DFW area.
"Turkey Oak (Quercus incana)..." Turkey Oak is Quercus laevis, while Quercus incana is Blue Jack Oak. Blue Jack Oak and Turkey Oak would only work well if DebMagnes sister happens to live in the narrow band of more acidic soil found around parts of Fort Worth and in between there and Dallas.(It looks possible based on where Justin, TX is located.)
I'd also second Quercus sinuata var. breviloba which is a wonderful small Oak that is tough as nails. It will only grow to about the size of a small Rebud Tree(Cercis canadensis) and it's bark is absolutely stunning! It has a flaky whitish gray thin bark with some orange and tan flaky spots, which makes it look like many tropical hardwoods and virtually no descriptions of it does it justice. It can have nice red fall colors sometimes also.
I'd add Monterrey Oak(Quercus polymorpha) also, it's a very nice evergreen Oak from Mexico, which does well in the DFW area. It will only grow to about 40' tall and wide or so.
Cedar Elm(Ulmus crassifolia) is another good performer in the DFW area. It's just about the nicest looking native Elm IMO and seems to be relatively disease resistant.
Chinese Pistachio(Pistachio chinensis) is hard to beat for fiery red fall color in the South.
Texas Red Oak(Quercus buckleyii) is another one that can have good red fall colors. It's often sold under the old scientific name of Quercus texana still (especially in Texas).
Shummard Oak (Quercus shummardii) I'll second. It's similar to Texas Red Oak, but larger growing(70'-80' vs. 40'-50') and can have good red fall colors. Both this Oak and Texas Red Oak are native to the DFW area and the parents of the recently talked about Quercus x sternbergii someone posted on this forum. I think the original Q. x sternbergii were collected from the DFW area too.
Plateau/Texas Live Oak(Quercus fusiformis) is another one that does very well in the DFW area. It's evergreen and related to the more familiar Southern Live Oak(Q. virginiana) but usually grows more upright and narrower than Southern Live Oak and is a bit more drought tolerant. It also grows a bit smaller than SLO.
Lacey Oak (Quercus laceyi) is another lesser known Oak with very nice glaucous-blue leaves and can have wonderful red fall colors. It's also very drought tolerant and while lesser known is sold in the DFW area, especially at native plant nurseries.
Soughtern Magnolia(Magnolia grandiflora) is an old standby which is another excellent choice. It has large tropical looking glossy medium to dark green foliage often with brown or orange-brown indumentum on the underneath part of the leaves. Some of the popular cultivars are 'Little Gem' which is a slower(and possibly smaller) grower that blooms for a VERY long time, 'D.D. Blanchard' which has extremely nice foliage with very orangey indumentum and the typical large white fragrant flowers(although some say it blooms less than most others) and 'Kay Parris' which is a newer cultivar that has excellent foliage and seems to flower longer than usual, but not as long as 'Little Gem'.
Caddo Maples (Acer saccharum although some argue it's A. barbatum or even A. grandidentatum) There are 2 cultivars named that are somewhat available in nurseries in the Southern Great Plains(It's relatively easy to find from Wichita, KS through Oklahoma City and Ardmore, OK. A bit more rare in DFW area though). One is simply called 'Caddo' and the other is 'Autumn Splendor'. Both trees are much much more heat and drought tolerant than typical Sugar Maple and don't suffer from leaf scorch and they both have the same fantastic fall colors of other Sugar Maples.
Chinquapin Oak(Quercus muhlenbergii) I'll second this as another tough as nails good choice. It's a medium grower with a good medium green leaf color and has decent yellow fall colors. It's extremely drought tolerant as well.
Lastly, I'll third the Bur Oak(Q. macrocarpa) suggestion. It grows to a potentially huge size with time, has large fiddle shaped dark green foliage, is tolerant of severe drought and heat(as well as severe cold) and is long lived. Although like Lucky said, it often only has brownish yellow fall colors, it can have nicer yellow fall colors on some specimens. It's a stalwart of the prairies from Southern Manitoba right on down through to Southern Texas.
