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British oak, chêne pédoncule, English oak, French oak, pedunculate oak

Garry oak, Oregon oak, Oregon white oak

Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. Trees or shrubs, deciduous, trees to 15(-20) m, with solitary trunks, shrubs to 0.1-3 m, multitrunked.
Bark

light gray or almost white, scaly.

Twigs

brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous.

brown, red, or yellowish, 2-4 mm diam., densely puberulent with spreading hairs or glabrate.

Buds

dark brown, ovoid, distally obtuse, 2-3 mm, glabrous.

brown or yellowish, ovoid or fusiform and apex acute, 2-12 mm, glandular-puberulent or densely pubescent.

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 obovate, elliptic or subrotund, moderately to deeply lobed, 25-120(-140) × 15-85 mm, base rounded-attenuate or cuneate, rarely subcordate, often unequal, margins with sinuses usually reaching more than 1/2 distance to midrib, lobes oblong or spatulate, obtuse, rounded or blunt, larger lobes usually with 2-3 sublobes or teeth, veins often ending in retuse teeth, secondary veins yellowish, 4-7 on each side, the more distal veins often branching within distal lobes, apex broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially light green or waxy yellowish, often felty to touch, densely to sparsely covered with semi-erect or erect, simple and (2-)4-8-rayed, fasciculate hairs 0.1-1 mm, secondary veins raised, adaxially bright or dark green, glossy or somewhat scurfy because of sparse stellate hairs.

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.

1-3, subsessile, rarely on peduncle to 10(-20) mm;

cup saucer-shaped, cup-shaped, or hemispheric, 4-10 mm deep × 12-22 mm wide;

scales yellowish or reddish brown, often long-acute near rim of cup, moderately or scarcely tuberculate, canescent or tomentulose;

nut light brown, oblong to globose, (12-)25-30(-40) × (10-)14-20(-22) mm, apex blunt or rounded, glabrous or often persistently puberulent.

Cotyledons

distinct.

distinct.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Quercus robur

Quercus garryana

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Quercus garryana (no varieties specified) was used medicinally by Native Americans to treat tuberculosis and as a drink and a rub for mothers before childbirth (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Trees to 15 m or more, trunk usually solitary; buds yellowish or cream, usually fusiform, 6–12 mm, apex acute, densely pubescent; twigs persistently puberulent, with spreading hairs.
var. garryana
1. Shrubs or small trees usually less than 5 m, multitrunked, spreading and clonal; buds reddish brown, ovoid, 2–5 mm, sparsely glandular-puberulent; twigs sparsely puberulent or glabrate, without spreading hairs.
→ 2
2. Leaf blade abaxially velvety to touch, hairs usually 4–6-rayed, rays 0.25–0.5 mm.
var. breweri
2. Leaf blade abaxially not velvety but sometimes felty, hairs 6–8-rayed, rays less than 0.3 mm.
var. semota
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus
Sibling taxa
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Subordinate taxa
Q. garryana var. breweri, Q. garryana var. garryana, Q. garryana var. semota
Synonyms Q. pedunculata Q. douglasii var. neaei, Q. garryana var. jacobi, Q. jacobi, Q. lobata var. breweri, Q. neaei
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) Douglas ex Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 159. (1840)
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