Quercus robur |
Quercus ellipsoidalis |
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British oak, chêne pédoncule, English oak, French oak, pedunculate oak |
Hill's oak, Jack oak, northern pin oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. | Trees, deciduous, to 20 m; lower trunk often with stubs of dead branches. |
Bark | dark gray-brown, shallowly fissured, inner bark orangish. |
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Twigs | brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous. |
dark reddish brown, (1-)1.5-3 mm diam., glabrous. |
Buds | dark brown, ovoid, distally obtuse, 2-3 mm, glabrous. |
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Leaves | blade obovate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate (some cultivars oblanceolate), (50-)70-150(-200) × (20-)35-85(-100) mm, base strongly cordate, often minutely revolute or folded, margins moderately to deeply lobed, lobes rounded or retuse distally, sinuses extending 1/3-7/8 distance to midrib, secondary veins arched, divergent, (3-)5-7 on each side, apex broadly rounded; surfaces abaxially light green, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, glabrous at maturity, adaxially deep green to light green or gray, dull or glossy. |
blade elliptic, 70-130 × 50-100 mm, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 5-7 deep lobes and 15-55 awns, lobes distally expanded, sinuses usually extending more than 1/2 distance to midrib, apex acute; surfaces abaxially glabrous except for minute axillary tufts of tomentum, adaxially glossy light green, glabrous, secondary veins raised on both surfaces. |
Acorns | 1-3, on very thin (1-2 mm diam.), flexuous peduncle (25-)35-65(-100) mm; cup hemispheric to deeply goblet-shaped, enclosing 1/4-1/2 nut or more, scales closely appressed, often in concentric rows, finely grayish tomentose; nut brown, ovoid, oblong, or cylindric, 15-30(-35) × 12-20 mm, glabrous. |
biennial; cup narrowly turbinate to deeply cup-shaped, 6-11 mm high × 10-19 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface reddish brown, puberulent, inner surface light brown, glabrous, rarely with ring of pubescence around scar, scales with straight or slightly concave margins, tips tightly appressed, obtuse or acute; nut ellipsoid to ovoid, rarely subglobose, 10-20 × 9-15 mm, occasionally striate, glabrous, occasionally with 1 or more faint rings of fine pits at apex, scar diam. 4-8 mm. |
Cotyledons | distinct. |
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Terminal | buds dark reddish brown, ovoid, 3-5 mm, often conspicuously 5-angled in cross section, usually silvery- or tawny-pubescent toward apex. |
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2n | = 24. |
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Quercus robur |
Quercus ellipsoidalis |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands | Dry sandy sites, rarely on moderately mesic slopes or uplands |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 150-500 m (500-1600 ft) |
Distribution |
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
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IA; IL; IN; MI; MN; OH; WI; ON
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Discussion | Quercus robur is one of the oaks most commonly cultivated in temperate and subtropical parts of the world. In North America it is most commonly seen in the eastern and northwestern parts of the United States and and in southeastern and southwestern Canada, where it tolerates a wide array of conditions and is extremely hardy. In Washington, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, apparently reproducing populations persist in the wild. Elsewhere, although actual naturalization appears to be rare, Q. robur should be expected to persist around old homesites and other places of cultivation. Quercus robur most closely resembles our native species Q. alba in leaf form. In contrast with Q. alba, which has relatively long petioles (longer than 10 mm), acute leaf bases, and subsessile fruit (rarely on peduncles to 25 mm), Q. robur is easily distinguished by its shorter petioles (less than 10 mm), cordate, almost clasping, leaf bases, and fruit on long (more than 35 mm), thin peduncles. Quercus robur is one of the oaks most widely celebrated in literature; it has wood of exceptionally high quality for the manufacture of furniture, and it previously was the most important wood used in the manufacture of wooden sailing vessels in Europe. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In many treatments (e.g., E. G. Voss 1972+, vol. 2), Quercus ellipsoidalis is included in Q. coccinea. Variation in fruit morphology has led to recognition of several formae (W. Trelease 1919; see also R. J. Jensen 1986) and one variety (Q. ellipsoidalis var. kaposianensis, based on specimens from St. Paul, Minnesota, in which the cup tightly encloses the nut for two-thirds its length at maturity). Quercus ellipsoidalis reportedly hybridizes with Q. rubra and Q. velutina. The Menominee used Quercus ellipsoidalis medicinally to treat suppressed menses caused by cold (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Q. pedunculata | Q. ellipsoidalis var. kaposianensis |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) | E. J. Hill: Bot. Gaz. 27: 204, plates 2, 3. (1899) |
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