Quercus robur |
Quercus laurifolia |
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British oak, chêne pédoncule, English oak, French oak, pedunculate oak |
diamond-leaf oak, laurel oak, obtusa oak, swamp laurel oak, water oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. | Trees, tardily deciduous, to 40 m. Bark dark brown to black, ridges flat, furrows deep. |
Twigs | brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous. |
red-brown, (1-)1.5-2.5 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 rhombic or broadly elliptic to obovate, occasionally oblong or spatulate, 30-120 × 15-45 mm, thin, base attenuate or cuneate, rarely obtuse, margins entire with 1 apical awn, apex obtuse or rounded; surfaces abaxially glabrous, adaxially glabrous, veins raised. |
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 shallowly saucer-shaped to deeply bowl-shaped, 3.5-9 mm high × 11-17 mm wide, covering 1/4-1/2 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent at least 1/2 distance to rim, scale tips appressed, acute or attenuate; nut globose or ovoid, 8.5-16 × 10-16 mm, glabrate, scar diam. 6.5-11.5 mm. |
Cotyledons | distinct. |
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Terminal | buds dark red-brown, ovoid to subconic, 2.5-6 mm, distinctly 5-angled in cross section, glabrous or with tuft of reddish hairs at apex. |
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2n | = 24. |
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Quercus robur |
Quercus laurifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands | Sandy flood plains and bottoms, riverbanks, and terraces, occasionally on poorly drained uplands |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 0-150 m (0-500 ft) |
Distribution |
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
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AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
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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.) |
Quercus laurifolia apparently flowers two weeks earlier than sympatric Quercus hemisphaerica (W. H. Duncan and M. B. Duncan 1988). It reportedly hybridizes with Q. falcata, Q. incana, and Q. nigra (H. A. Fowells 1965); with Q. hemisphaerica, Q. marilandica, Q. myrtifolia, Q. phellos, and Q. shumardii (D. M. Hunt 1989); and with Q. velutina. (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. obtusa, Q. rhombica |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) | Michaux: Hist. Chênes Amér., no. 10, plate 17. (1801) |
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