Spreading
Naturally grows only in the European part; in the north, the border runs along the line St. Petersburg - Kirov, further east to the Urals, from where, without crossing the Urals, it turns south in the direction of Orenburg - Saratov - Volgograd, then turns west in the direction of Novocherkassk - the mouth of the Dnieper River. In the southeastern dry steppes, English oak is absent and appears again in the foothills of the Northern Crimea and the Northern Caucasus. In forest plantations it is often found in the European part, in field protection forest strips and green spaces. It is cultivated in the south of Western Siberia and Central Asia.
Tree
A large tree, up to 40 m high. In maturity, the trunk diameter reaches 1–1.5 m. In plantations it forms well-cleaned trunks with an ovoid or cylindrical crown raised high above the ground. When standing freely, it is characterized by a large number of branches and strong camber. The crown in this case is powerful, dense, broadly tent-shaped. The shoots are gray, brown or reddish-brown, glabrous with numerous lenticels, the core is five-rayed. The bark of young trees is thin, and under favorable habitat conditions, shiny - with a mirror surface. By old age, a thick crust forms, especially in the butt part of the tree. Its thickness reaches 10 cm and deep cracks form on it. The buds are ovoid, bluntly pentagonal, blunt at the end; the apical buds are usually surrounded by several lateral buds. It blooms simultaneously with the leaves blooming in the central regions in mid-May. Leaves with 4–7 rounded lobes, asymmetrical, short-petiolate, rounded or notched at the apex, shiny on the upper side, without pubescence. The venation of the leaves is completely pinnate. The trees are monoecious, but dioecious. Male flowers are yellow-green, collected in inflorescences in the form of an earring 30–40 mm long on the tops of last year's shoots or the lower part of young shoots. Female flowers are located on young shoots, usually higher than male flowers, and they sit on reddish stalks. Pollinated by wind. Male inflorescences are laid and begin to form mainly in mid-summer, early autumn, in the year preceding flowering; female ones form in early spring, when the air temperature sometimes drops below 0 °C and night frosts are possible. The harvest of acorns, therefore, depends primarily on the environmental conditions with which the formation of male and female flowers is associated. The fruits (acorns) often hang in pairs on a petiole (hence the name of the species), the embryo consists of two easily separated cotyledons and buds between them. Acorns are 20–40 mm long, greenish-brown with brown, not always clearly visible, stripes. The lower part of the acorn is enclosed in a scaly brown cup called the plus. The plus covers the acorn up to 73 of its length. On a long fruiting stalk (5–8 cm) 1–5 (usually 2) acorns are collected. The scales on the pluses are fused and arranged in a tiled pattern. Acorns ripen in early autumn at the end of September or early October. Harvest years are repeated every 4-5 years. The pedunculate oak has a powerful root system - a deep taproot, from which first-order lateral roots extend at different angles, which then branch into second-order roots. This root system gives the oak the opportunity to use soil moisture and nutrients from a considerable depth and grow satisfactorily in fairly dry and relatively poor soils. Thanks to its root system, pedunculate oak is highly wind-resistant and drought-resistant, and can tolerate even severe droughts and high summer temperatures of up to 40–41 °C. Tolerates temporary flooding for up to 20 days, but does not tolerate constant excessive soil moisture. Frost-resistant. It is demanding on soils, but can grow on poor rocky and even slightly saline soils. In such conditions, it forms unproductive plantings and often produces shrub-type plants or low, twisted trees. In the first 5–7 years, oak grows slowly; at the age of 8–10 years, height growth increases to 50 cm per year, and in the presence of suitable conditions and favorable conditions soil conditions (deep fertile fresh soils) - up to 1–1.5 m per year. In the first years, the trunk is uneven, rich in dormant buds, and when exposed to light or in strong shade, it becomes covered with numerous watery shoots. Therefore, foresters, wanting to grow a straight-trunk planting, grow oak at a young age with adjustment. English oak is one of the most durable species. Trees 400–500 years old are not uncommon. There is information about oaks that have reached the age of 1,000 and 1,500 years. The oak reproduces by seeds and is abundantly renewed by shoots from the stump. Oak retains its growth capacity for up to 100 years. Artificially propagated by seeds. Sowing acorns in autumn and spring (with preliminary stratification) gives good results. English oak is highly variable. There are varieties that differ in the length of the stalks, pubescence, shape and size of leaves, acorns, crown shape and other characteristics. For forestry and field-protective afforestation, its ecological forms are important - early-blooming and late-blooming.
Wood
Heavy, hard, with big amount medullary rays, the core is brown with a gray-green tint; in a wide part of the spring wood there are sparsely scattered, large vessels. The density of absolutely dry wood is 0.70 g/cm³, at 12% humidity - 0.72 g/cm³.
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English oak, or summer oak, or common oak, or English oak (lat. Quércus róbur) is the type species of the genus Oak (Quercus) of the Beech family (Fagaceae); a large tree reaching a height of 30-40 meters, forming broad-leaved forests (oak groves) in the southern forest and forest-steppe zones.
This species received the specific epithet “petiolate” for its long stalks, which distinguish it from other species.
Reaches a height of 20-40 m. It can live up to 2000 years, but usually lives 300-400 years. Growth in height stops at the age of 100-200 years; growth in thickness, although insignificant, continues throughout life.
Probably the oldest representative should be considered the Stelmuzhi oak with a trunk circumference of 13 m in Lithuania. Its age, according to various estimates, is from 1500 to 2000 years.
Root system consists of a very long tap root; from 6-8 years, lateral roots begin to develop, also going deep into the ground.
The crown is dense, tent-like or wide-pyramidal, asymmetrical, spreading, with strong branches and a thick trunk (1-1.5 m in diameter). In young trees, the trunk is irregular, geniculate, and with age it becomes straight and cylindrical.
The bark is dark gray, blackish, thick. Young oak trees have gray, smooth bark. At 20-30 years of age, more or less deep cracks form on the bark. Trees grown in freedom have bark up to 10 cm thick.
Young shoots are fluffy, brown or reddish-gray, shiny, with brown spots and slightly oblong lenticels.
The buds are obtusely pentagonal, 5 mm long and 4 mm wide, the lateral ones are slightly smaller and spaced apart, the scales are numerous, five-rowed, rounded, brown, glabrous and ciliated only along the edge.
All buds are usually ovoid, almost spherical, light brown, rounded or bluntly pointed at the apex, leaf scar with 7-15 marks. The apical buds are surrounded for the most part by several lateral ones.
Botanical illustration from the book by O. V. Thome “Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz”, 1885
The leaf arrangement is alternate, at the top of the branches in the form of bunches. Leaves are oblong, oblong-obovate, narrowed downwards or heart-shaped, often with ears, obtuse or notched at the apex, pinnate, 40-120 mm long, 25-70 mm wide, with four to seven lobes, hard, almost leathery, on top dark green, shiny, yellowish or green below, with very prominent lighter veins, bare on both sides, with short petioles up to 10 mm long, always falling off in winter. The blades are blunt, rounded, the notches between them are shallow.
Flowers are dioecious. Flowering begins in trees between 40 and 60 years old, along with the blossoming of leaves, usually in May. The plant is monoecious. Staminate flowers are collected in long pendulous catkins 20-30 mm long, with ten or more flowers, 2-3 together or singly on the tops of last year's shoots or at the bottom of young shoots.
Each flower sits far from the other, so a peduncle is clearly visible between them, has a five- or seven-parted, fringed, membranous, greenish perianth along the edges, as well as 5-6 or more stamens with short filaments and large yellow anthers.
Female flowers are usually located on young shoots higher than male ones, collected in small groups of two or three together on a separate reddish stalk, have a six-parted, reddish perianth at the edges, surrounded by green, hairy, reddish scales at the top, representing the future plus.
The ovary is three-lobed, red, the stigma is thread-like, slightly protruding outward. Nests in the ovary are formed only after pollination, three in number, with two eggs in each. Each ovary usually develops only one acorn. Acorns hang in pairs, less often 1-5 on a stalk up to 80 mm long.
The fruit is a nut (acorn), bare, brownish-brown (1.5-3.5 cm long), on a long (3-8 cm) stalk. The acorn is placed in a saucer or cup-shaped bowl (0.5-1 cm long). The fruits ripen in September - October.
There are two known forms of common oak - early and late. Early oak leaves bloom in April and fall off for the winter, while late oak leaves bloom two to three weeks later and remain on young plants for the winter.
Botanical taxonomy:
Quercus robur subsp. brutia (Ten.) O.Schwarz
Quercus robur subsp. imeretina (Steven ex Woronow) Menitsky
Mention of what features should be included in the description of oak? They usually talk and write about structure and reproduction. Let's try to find out more about this wonderful plant, beneficial properties its bark, wood, leaves and acorns.
Favorite of gods and people - oak (tree)
Let's start the description with mythology, because dozens of peoples have revered this tree since ancient times and made up legends about it. Oak is considered one of the most popular on Earth. The ancient Greeks compared its mighty trunk and spreading crown with Zeus, the Romans - with Jupiter. A description of the oak tree will be incomplete without mentioning that among the ancient Slavs the tree personified the Thunder God - Perun.
People of different nationalities and religions treat oak with equal respect and find various uses for its wood, bark, leaves and fruits. It is difficult to say which part of the plant is most popular. A powerful trunk, an extensive root system and a wide crown are associated with power, strength, and longevity. The leathery leaves of the winter subspecies, which remain on the branches until severe frosts, personify unparalleled courage and perseverance.
Durable and solid oak wood is used in construction, furniture industry, and other industries. The bark contains a significant amount of tannins and other useful compounds that are used in the tanning industry, the forest chemical industry, and medicine. Acorns serve as food for numerous forest inhabitants. The population collects fruits for domestic animals and breeding beautiful trees in green areas, making acorn coffee.
At the venerable age of 200-400 years, the height of trees can reach 40-50 m, diameter - 2 m. In different parts of the Earth there are older oak trees that live 700-2000 years. Usually such old specimens are declared natural monuments and taken under protection.
Description of oak
The genus Quercus belongs to the Beech family (Fagaceae). It is represented by almost 600 species of deciduous trees, sometimes shrubs. Oaks are distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, but are more often found in the zone of deciduous forests, forest-steppes and steppes of Eurasia. The most common types: common oak (English, pedunculate), downy, sessile, cork. These are beautiful, long-lasting landscape trees. The Mediterranean flora, including the Caucasus region, has up to 15-18 species of oak trees.
There is still no consensus on the origin Latin name genus Oak (Quercus). The term "quercus" could come from the Greek word "kerkein", meaning "rough" in translation. Indeed, a noticeable feature of trees in old oak groves is their gray bark, covered in deep cracks.
On the territory of Russia, a typical representative is the pedunculate oak (tree). Description: This is a large, tall tree with a well-developed crown. Living trunks at an advanced age are covered with thick gray bark with deep cracks. The branches of young specimens are almost smooth, shiny, gray-brown in color. New shoots with buds are red-brown, covered with gray hairs resembling felt.
There are summer and winter forms, which often grow together, but differ in the timing of blossoming and shedding of foliage, and the flowering period. Experts say that wood of these forms has different economic value. For furniture and parquet, winter oak, as well as bog oak (which has lain under water without access to oxygen), is preferable.
Development of underground organs
Oak is a dicotyledonous plant and has a tap root. A tree densely covered with foliage needs large quantities moisture and nutrients. Oak groves are demanding of soil fertility; they need loose substrates rich in humus and mineral elements. The oak root system can reach a length of 10 m with a crown diameter of 25 m. Thanks to powerful underground organs, trees grow very stable, able to withstand heavy rains and squally winds.
English oak is a light-loving species and grows best when illuminated from the east. In continuous plantings it tolerates side darkening, then lighting is required in the upper part of the crown. The oak leaf grows on a short petiole and is obovate in shape, pinnately lobed. The leaf blade is slightly leathery on top, shiny, dark green in color; the lower surface is light green.
The oak crown is spherical, spreading, if the tree grows on open place. In forests and parks, with strong thickening, the trunk becomes elongated, the branches grow asymmetrically, and become bent. The crown of a freely growing young tree has a beautiful wide pyramidal shape.
Oak is a dioecious, monoecious plant
Loose male inflorescences consist of small, inconspicuous corollas. Drooping catkins appear in April-May, almost simultaneously with the leaves blooming, but only on mature trees. The female flowers are also inconspicuous, they are located singly or several on the peduncle.
Oak serves as a source of cool shade in summer, and its branches are harvested at this time for bath brooms. The leaves are rich in beneficial compounds; their large size allows a lot of healing steam to be pumped into the body, which has antimicrobial, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.
Description of acorns
The fruits are necessary for the spread of the species, although the oak tree also reproduces vegetatively. IN landscape design, afforestation, and landscaping mainly use the cultivation of seedlings and saplings from acorns. Copper trees produce seeds from the age of 20; abundant fruiting of seed specimens most often occurs by the age of 50-60.
A brown oak fruit with longitudinal and transverse markings, the acorn, is a nut. On top it is covered with a shallow, rough, bowl-shaped plush, arising from the reduced outer parts of the flower. The shape of acorns is oblong, length - up to 3.5 cm. The fruits can have a round shape and reach 1.5 cm in diameter.
Reproduction and cultivation
We will conclude the description of oak with a short review of some of the features of its cultivation.
Most species of this genus begin to bear fruit at a late age (from 15-30 years). The fruits ripen and fall from August to October, then they can be examined more closely. It is interesting that the acorns of one oak tree differ in shades of color, weight, shape, and the nature of the scales on the plus.
The fruits are collected before the snow falls; if they are dark brown in color with a gloss, it means they are fully ripe, healthy and capable of germinating. Oak forests are difficult to regenerate seed propagation, because after germination the seedlings grow for a long time and begin to bear fruit very late.
After collecting acorns, they can be germinated in peat pots throughout the winter, and transplanted into soil or a tub in the spring. A bonsai is formed from oak in the room and on the terrace using soft copper wire. It should be applied to the trunk and branches of the tree in the fall, after the leaves have fallen. Bonsai is a popular trend in indoor floriculture and landscape design, but not every amateur is able to correctly form the trunk and crown. It is necessary to properly prune thick branches in winter and cut off green shoots throughout the year.
The fruit of the oak tree is a single-seeded acorn. Oak has a deep taproot system. It is light-loving. There are approximately 450 known species of oak growing in the Northern Hemisphere. Some types of oak are drought-resistant, very winter-hardy and undemanding to soil quality.
The oak tree reproduces mainly by acorns. For sowing, it is necessary to use acorns that were collected in the same year, because they quickly lose their germination capacity. Oak seeds ripen in September - October. Oak seeds can be stored for no more than one year.
Oak wood is characterized by high strength, hardness and durability. Oak wood does not rot and has the highest density and the highest mass calorific value.
English oak or ordinary- most famous representative a genus of oak, it is widespread in the European part of Russia.
Reaches a height of 20-40 m. It can live up to 2000 years, but usually lives 300-400 years. Growth in height stops at the age of 100-200 years; growth in thickness, although insignificant, continues throughout life. Probably the oldest representative should be considered the Stelmuzhi oak with a trunk circumference of 13 m in Lithuania. Its age, according to various estimates, is from 1500 to 2000 years.
The root system consists of a very long tap root; from 6-8 years, lateral roots begin to develop, also going deep into the ground.
The crown is dense, tent-like or wide-pyramidal, asymmetrical, spreading, with strong branches and a thick trunk (1-1.5 m in diameter). In young trees, the trunk is irregular, geniculate, and with age it becomes straight and cylindrical.
The bark is dark gray, blackish, thick. Young oak trees have gray, smooth bark. At 20-30 years of age, more or less deep cracks form on the bark. Trees grown in freedom have bark up to 10 cm thick.
Young shoots are fluffy, brown or reddish-gray, shiny, with brown spots and slightly oblong lenticels.
The buds are obtusely pentagonal, 5 mm long and 4 mm wide, the lateral ones are slightly smaller and spaced apart, the scales are numerous, five-rowed, rounded, brown, glabrous and ciliated only along the edge. All buds are usually ovoid, almost spherical, light brown, rounded or bluntly pointed at the apex, leaf scar with 7-15 marks. The apical buds are surrounded for the most part by several lateral ones.
The leaf arrangement is alternate, at the top of the branches in the form of bunches. Leaves are oblong, oblong-obovate, narrowed downwards or heart-shaped, often with ears, obtuse or notched at the apex, pinnate, 40-120 mm long, 25-70 mm wide, with four to seven lobes, hard, almost leathery, on top dark green, shiny, yellowish or green below, with very prominent lighter veins, bare on both sides, with short petioles up to 10 mm long, always falling off in winter. The blades are blunt, rounded, the notches between them are shallow.
Flowers are dioecious. Flowering begins in trees between 40 and 60 years old, along with the blossoming of leaves, usually in May. The plant is monoecious. Staminate flowers are collected in long pendulous catkins 20-30 mm long, with ten or more flowers, 2-3 together or singly on the tops of last year's shoots or at the bottom of young shoots. Each flower sits far from the other, so a peduncle is clearly visible between them, has a five to seven-parted, fringed, membranous, greenish perianth along the edges and five to six or more stamens with short filaments and large yellow anthers. Female flowers are usually located on young shoots higher than male ones, collected in small groups of two or three together on a separate reddish stalk, have a six-parted, reddish perianth at the edges, surrounded by green, hairy, reddish scales at the top, representing the future plus. The ovary is three-lobed, red, the stigma is thread-like, slightly protruding outward. Nests in the ovary are formed only after pollination, three in number, with two eggs in each. Each ovary usually develops only one acorn. Acorns hang in pairs, less often 1-5 on a stalk up to 80 mm long.
The fruit is a nut (acorn), bare, brownish-brown (1.5-3.5 cm long), on a long (3-8 cm) stalk. The acorn is placed in a saucer or cup-shaped bowl (0.5-1 cm long). The fruits ripen in September - October.
There are two known forms of common oak - early and late. Early oak leaves bloom in April and fall off for the winter, while late oak leaves bloom two to three weeks later and remain on young plants for the winter.
I will immediately plant the oak trees in pre-prepared soil along the central road.
I invite everyone to speak out in