Quercus robur |
Quercus michauxii |
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British oak, chêne pédoncule, English oak, French oak, pedunculate oak |
basket oak, cow oak, swamp chestnut oak |
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Habit | Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. | Trees, deciduous, to 20 m. Bark light brown or gray, scaly. |
Twigs | brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous. |
brown or reddish brown, 2-3 mm diam., with sparse spreading hairs or glabrate. |
Buds | dark brown, ovoid, distally obtuse, 2-3 mm, glabrous. |
reddish brown, ovoid, apex rounded or acute, glabrous or minutely puberulent. |
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 broadly obovate or broadly elliptic, (60-)100-280 × 50-180 mm, base rounded-acuminate or broadly cuneate, margins regularly toothed, teeth rounded, dentate, or acuminate, secondary veins 15-20 on each side, parallel, straight or somewhat curved, apex broadly rounded or acuminate; surfaces abaxially light green or yellowish, felty to touch because of conspicuous or minute, erect, 1-4-rayed hairs, adaxially glabrous or with minute simple or fascicled 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 or more often on axillary peduncle to 20-30 mm; cup hemispheric, broadly hemispheric or even short-cylindric, 15-25 mm deep × 25-40 mm wide, enclosing 1/2 nut or more, scales very loosely appressed, distinct to base, gray or light brown, moderately to heavily tuberculate, tips silky-tomentose; nut light brown, ovoid or cylindric, 25-35 × 20-25 mm, glabrous. |
Cotyledons | distinct. |
distinct. |
2n | = 24. |
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Quercus robur |
Quercus michauxii |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering early–late spring. |
Habitat | Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands | Bottomlands, rich sandy woods and swamps, on variety of soils |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 0-600 m (0-2000 ft) |
Distribution |
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
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AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; PA; SC; TN; 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 michauxii is easily distinguished from other chestnut-leaved oaks by the felty hairs of the abaxial leaf surface and rather large acorn cups with attenuate-acute, loose scales. This species is no longer extant in Oklahoma. Historical reports from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York have not been confirmed; possibly populations are no longer extant. (See Quercus montana for a discussion of nomenclature and the uncertain application of the name Q. prinus). (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. Quercus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Q. pedunculata | Q. houstoniana |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) | Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 215. (1818) |
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