acorns Seed English Oak

LATIN NAME: Quercus robur

COMMON NAME: English Oak

The English oak is the tree that built the old fleets and the old villages. The great, broad, long-lived tree carries the lobed, dark-green leaves and the fine, rugged, grey bark, and the small, hanging catkins open through the spring, to be followed by the acorns in their little, scaly cups. The tree grows on slowly and lives for centuries, and it has stood at the centre of the old woodlands and the old stories for a very long time. It is a tree of the deep, rich, well-drained ground, and it is one of the great trees of the cool-temperate world.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The English oak keeps a regular place in the plant science, and the tree has been studied for centuries for the lobed leaves, the acorns and the fine, durable timber. The way the great tree grows on through the centuries has been studied at length, and the oak keeps showing up in the work on the forest trees, the timber trees and the woodland ecology. The small, hanging catkins and the acorns in their scaly cups have also made the tree a regular subject of the studies of the mast years and the wildlife of the woodlands, and the old, broad crowns hold a fine, steady place in the botany of the cool-temperate regions.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The English oak pays its way across the centuries. The fine, durable timber has built the ships, the barns and the furniture of the old world, and the acorns are a fine, dependable food for the jays, the squirrels and the pigs of the woodlands. The great, broad tree is also a fine, long-lived shade tree of the park and the avenue, and the lobed, dark-green leaves turn the fine, warm colours in the autumn. It has been written up in the forestry and the horticultural papers for its long life and its fine timber, and it is one of the great trees of the cool-temperate garden and the woodland.

The English oak is one of the great trees of the cool-temperate world, and the lobed, dark-green leaves and the fine, rugged, grey bark give it a presence that only the centuries can build. The acorns in their little, scaly cups are the fine, dependable food of the jays and the squirrels of the woodland.

To grow the English oak from seed, sow the fresh acorns at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil, laying them on their sides and covering them lightly, keep them in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come through within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the deep, rich, well-drained ground, the great, broad tree will build its fine, rugged presence over the years.

English Oak, Quercus robur, Tree Seeds (Acorns)

Hardy, Adaptable, Wildlife Food/Shelter, Shade Tree, Long Lived, Cold, Drought, Urban and Salt Tolerant

English Oak is a long-lived, majestic, deciduous oak of the white oak group that typically grows in cultivation to 40 to 70 feet tall with a broad spreading, rounded crown. Trunks are typically short, with ridged and furrowed dark gray to black bark. Insignificant monoecious yellowish-green flowers in separate male and female catkins appear in spring as the leaves emerge. Fruits are oval acorns to 1 inch long on 1 to 3 inch stalks. Acorn caps extend approximately 1/3 the acorn length. Short-stalked, dark green leaves 3 to 5 inches long) with 3 to 7 blunt lobes per side are blue-green beneath. Small auriculate lobes at the leaf bases distinguish this species from the similar American species of White Oak (Quercus alba). Leaves are variable in shape. No fall color.

English Oak has long been an important timber source in England. Robur comes from the Latin word meaning robust in reference to the strength and durability of the tree. Although native to mixed woodland areas from the British Isles to the Caucasus, English Oak has been widely planted in North America since the 1600s.

Oaks are the most important and most widespread hardwood trees in the northern temperate zone. There are about 500 species of oaks occurring mainly in north temperate parts of the world, but also at high elevations in the tropics. There are about 70 species in the U.S., of which ten grow as shrubs, not trees.
The oaks can be divided into two major groups: members of the white oak group have rounded leaf lobes and tips, and edible acorns that mature in one year; members of the red oak group have bristles on the leaf lobes and tips and bitter acorns that take two years to mature. English Oak is in the white oak group.

The acorns of Oak trees are a very important wildlife food, and many species depend upon them for winter survival. Populations of deer, squirrels, bears, turkeys, wood duck and many more animals increase and decrease with the annual (and variable) acorn crop.