Quercus robur, commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. The Truffle Oak with a circumference of 12. Flowering takes place in mid spring, and the fruit, called acorns, ripen by mid autumn. It is a long-lived tree, with a large wide spreading crown of rugged branches.

While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques that extend the tree’s potential lifespan, if not its health. Quercus robur should not be confused with Q. Quercus robur is very tolerant to soil conditions and the continental climate but it prefers fertile and well-watered soils. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the acorns.

The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small mammals and some birds, notably Eurasian jays Garrulus glandarius. A number of cultivars are grown in gardens and parks and in arboreta and botanical gardens. The most common cultivar is Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, and is the exception among Q. In Australia English oak is one of the most common park trees in south-eastern Australia, noted for its vigorous, luxuriant growth. The fastigiate oak was originally propagated from an upright tree that was found in central Europe.

It was originally raised in Van Geert’s nursery at Ghent in 1843. Quercus robur ‘Purpurea’ is another cultivar growing to 10 m, but with purple-coloured leaves. Along with the naturally occurring Q. It is usually of intermediate character between its parents, however it does occasionally exhibit more pronounced characteristics of one or the other parent. English oak and the swamp white oak. Quercus robur is planted for forestry, and produces a long-lasting and durable heartwood, much in demand for interior and furniture work. Oak leaves with acorns are depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 5 lipa coin, minted since 1993.

In traditional Finnish culture, the oak is considered a holy tree. The oak is also the regional tree of the Southwest Finland region, where it is a common yard tree. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. The oak tree has had a symbolic value since Ancient times. Some oaks were considered sacred trees by the Gauls.

The druids would cut down the mistletoe growing on them. In Ireland, at Birr Castle, a specimen over 400 years old has a girth of 6. It is known as the Carroll Oak, referring to the local Chieftains, Ely O’Carroll who ruled prior to Norman occupation. In Latvia oak is the national symbol. Many Latvian folk songs are about oak tree. Base of the coat of arms is decorated with the branches of an oak tree.

The Romanian Rugby Union side is known as The Oaks. In the Scandinavian countries, oaks were considered the “thunderstorm trees”, which representing Thor, the god of thunder. In England, the English oak has assumed the status of a national emblem. It comprises 12 chromosomes pairs, about 26,000 genes and 750 million bp. This is roughly a quarter of the size of the human genome, which has about 3 billion base pairs. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.