Quercus petraea, commonly known as the sessile oak,[Mitchell, Alan (1974). "Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Field Guide)", HarperCollins Distribution Services, New York. .] and an unofficial emblem in Wales[ "Tree trail with worldwide flavour", BBC News, 23 July 2004] and Cornwall.[ West Briton, September 01, 2011, Will native trees thrive in the future? ]
Description
The sessile oak is a large
deciduous tree up to tall,
in the
white oak section of the genus (
Quercus sect.
Quercus) and similar to the
pedunculate oak (
Q. robur), with which it overlaps extensively in range. The
leaves are long and broad, evenly lobed with five to six lobes on each side and a petiole. The male
are grouped into
, produced in the spring. The
fruit is an
acorn long and broad, which matures in about six months.
File:Divljanski stari hrast.jpg|Old sacred oak (zapis) in Divljana, Serbia
File:Quercus petraea 02.jpg|Shoot with leaves and acorn
File:Eglinton fish pond island inosculated Q. petraea.JPG|An inosculation tree
File:Sessile Oak forest.jpg|A sessile oak in a forest
Comparison with pedunculate oak
Significant
botany differences from
pedunculate oak (
Q. robur) include the stalked leaves, and the stalkless (sessile)
from which one of its common names is derived. (With the pedunculate oak, it is the acorns which are pedunculate, i.e. on stalks, while the leaves are not.) It occurs in upland areas of altitudes over with higher rainfall and shallow, acidic, sandy soils. Its specific epithet
petraea means "of rocky places".
, on the other hand, prefers deeper, richer soils at lower altitude. Fertile hybrids with
Quercus robur named
Quercus × rosacea are found wherever the two parent species occur and share or are intermediate in characters between the parents.
Taxonomy
Quercus petraea was first described by Heinrich Gottfried von Mattuschka in 1777 as a variety of
Quercus robur,
Quercus robur var.
petraea. It was raised to a full species by Franz Kaspar Lieblein in 1784.
Subspecies
, Plants of the World Online accepted five subspecies:
[
]
-
Quercus petraea subsp. austrotyrrhenica Brullo, Guarino & Siracusa
-
Quercus petraea subsp. huguetiana Franco & G.López
-
Quercus petraea subsp. petraea
-
Quercus petraea subsp. pinnatiloba (K.Koch) Menitsky
-
Quercus petraea subsp. polycarpa (Schur) Soó
Diseases and pests
-
Acute oak decline
-
Sudden oak death
-
The Welsh oak longhorn beetle ( Pyrrhidium sanguineum) is named after its host tree; the larvae feed at the bark interface of dead wood.
[Bullock, J.A. 1992. Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations – Amateur Entomologists' Society (AES) publication volume 11a: A supplement to A Coleopterist's Handbook.]
Uses
Sessile oak is one of the most important species in Europe both economically and ecologically. Oak timber is traditionally used for building, ships and furniture. Today the best woods are used for quality cabinetmaking, Wood veneer and barrel staves.
Notable individual trees
Pontfadog Oak
Known as "Wales's national tree", the Pontfadog Oak was a sessile oak considered to be the oldest oak tree in the UK. Located near Chirk in North Wales, its girth was measured as over in 1881 and it was understood to be over 1,200 years old, an age that was due to regular pollarding for much of its life. The hollow trunk had a girth of .
The tree died in April 2013 when it blew down in high winds.
Fuck Tree
The Fuck Tree is a sessile oak tree located in Hampstead Heath, north London. The tree is located in an established gay cruising area and is famous for its slender trunk which facilitates gay sex. Hampstead Heath has been used for gay cruising since the Victorian era, with the Fuck Tree being the most famous tree in the heath.
See also
External links
