Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus robur

Quercus gravesii

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

Chisos red oak, Graves oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. Trees, deciduous, to 13 m. Bark black, roughly furrowed.
Twigs

brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous.

light brown to dark reddish brown, (1-)1.5-2.5 mm diam., glabrous or glabrate.
Buds

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

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 ovate to elliptic, 45-140 × 20-120 mm, base rounded (rarely subcordate) to obtuse or cuneate, margins with 3-5 acute lobes, 9-20 awns, apex broadly obtuse or acute to attenuate, occasionally falcate;

surfaces abaxially light green or coppery green, glabrous with small axillary tufts of tomentum or pubescent along midrib and veins, adaxially shiny or glossy, glabrous except for scattered pubescence near base and along midrib.
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 turbinate or deeply cup-shaped, 4.5-8.5 mm high × 7.5-12 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface glabrate, inner surface glabrous to pubescent on inner 2/3, scale tips appressed, less than 4 mm, acute;

nut ovoid to ellipsoid, rarely subglobose or oblong, 9-16 × 5.5-11 mm, occasionally striate, glabrous to puberulent, especially at apex, scar diam. 3-6 mm.
Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

buds brown or reddish brown, ovoid or ellipsoid to subconic, 2-5 mm, glabrous or with tuft of hairs at apex.
2n

= 24.

Quercus robur

Quercus gravesii
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands Davis, Glass, and Chisos mountains
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) above 1200 m (above 3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[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.)

Quercus gravesii reportedly hybridizes with Q. hypoleucoides. As noted above, forms of Q. gravesii and Q. robusta are easily confused and give the impression of belonging to a single morphologic continuum.

Some authors have also used the name Quercus texana for Q. gravesii.

(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
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. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, 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
Synonyms Q. pedunculata Q. chisosensis, Q. shumardii var. microcarpa, Q. stellipila, Q. texana var. chisosensis, Q. texana var. stellapila
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) Sudworth: Check List For. Trees U.S., 86. (1927)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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