Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus robur

Quercus palustris

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

pin oak, quercus palustris
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark light gray, scaly. Trees, deciduous, to 25 m. Bark grayish brown, fissures broad, shallow, inner bark pinkish.
Twigs

brown, 2-3 mm diam., glabrous.

reddish brown, 1.5-3(-4) mm diam., soon becoming glabrous.
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 elliptic to oblong, 50-160 × 50-120 mm, base cuneate to broadly obtuse or truncate with basal pair of lobes often somewhat recurved, margins with 5-7 lobes and 10-30 awns, lobes acute or attenuate or distally expanded, apex acute to acuminate;

surfaces abaxially glabrous except for conspicuous axillary tufts of tomentum, veins raised, adaxially planar, glabrous.
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 thin, saucer-shaped, 3-6 mm high × 9.5-16 mm wide, covering 1/4 nut, outer surface glabrous or puberulent, inner surface glabrous or with a few hairs around scar, scale tips tightly appressed, acute to obtuse;

nut globose or ovoid, 10-16 × 9-15 mm, often conspicuously striate, glabrous, scar diam. 5.5-9 mm.
Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

buds brown to reddish brown, ovoid, 3-5 mm, glabrous or with a few fine hairs at apex.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Quercus robur

Quercus palustris
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, forest margins and woodlands Bottoms and poorly drained upland clay soils
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 0-350 m (0-1100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
BC; NB; NS; PE [Introduced from Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CT; DC; DE; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
[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.)

Quercus palustris is especially common in landscape and street plantings. Its persistent dead branchlets (pins) and branching pattern (drooping lower branches, horizontal middle branches, ascending upper branches) are quite distinctive.

This species reportedly hybridizes with Quercus coccinea (E. J. Palmer 1948) and with Q. imbricaria (= Q. ×exacta Trelease), Q. marilandica, Q. nigra, Q. phellos (= Q. ×schochiana Dieck), Q. rubra, Q. shumardii, and Q. velutina.

Some Native American tribes used infusions prepared from the bark of Quercus palustris to alleviate intestinal pains (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
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. 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. 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
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 996. (1753) Münchhausen: Hausvater 5(1): 253. (1770)
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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