An oak is a
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...
tree or shrub in the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Quercus'' of the
beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an
acorn
The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...
, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...
; it includes some 500 species, both
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
and
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
. Fossil oaks date back to the Middle
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
.
Molecular phylogeny
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
shows that the genus is divided into
Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
and New World
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s, but many oak species
hybridise freely, making the genus's history difficult to resolve.
Ecologically, oaks are
keystone species
A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. The concept was introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in main ...
in habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to subtropical
rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
. They live in association with many kinds of
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
including
truffle
A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
s. Oaks support more than 950 species of
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
, many kinds of
gall wasp
Gall wasps, also traditionally called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this gene ...
which form distinctive
gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...
s (roundish woody lumps such as the
oak apple
An oak apple or oak gall is a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the famil ...
), and a large number of pests and diseases. Oak leaves and acorns contain enough
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...
to be toxic to cattle, but pigs are able to digest them safely. Oak timber is strong and hard, and has found many uses in construction and furniture-making. The bark was traditionally used for
tanning leather
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
.
Wine barrel
Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a ve ...
s are made of oak; these are used for aging alcoholic beverages such as
sherry
Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
and
whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...
, giving them a range of flavours, colours, and aromas. The spongy bark of the
cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...
is used to make traditional wine bottle corks. Almost a third of oak species are threatened with extinction due to climate change,
invasive pests, and
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
.
In culture, the oak tree is a symbol of strength and serves as the
national tree
This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more trees as their national trees. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. Additionally, the list includes trees that we ...
of many countries. In Indo-European and related religions, the oak is associated with
thunder gods. Individual oak trees of cultural significance include the
Royal Oak
The Royal Oak was the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House ...
in Britain, the
Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an enormous Quercus alba, white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hill in Hartford, Connecticut, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. Connecticut colonists hid Connecticut Constitutional Histor ...
in the United States, and the
Guernica Oak in the
Basque Country.
Etymology
The
generic name ''Quercus'' is
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "oak", derived from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
''*kwerkwu-'', "oak", which is also the origin of the name "
fir
Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
", another important or sacred tree in Indo-European culture. The word "cork", for the bark of the
cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...
, similarly derives from ''Quercus''. The common name "oak" is from
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''ac'' (seen in placenames such as
Acton, from ''ac'' + ''tun'', "oak village"), which in turn is from
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
''*aiks'', "oak".
Description
Oaks are
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...
(
dicotyledon
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, ...
ous) trees,
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
or
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
, with spirally arranged leaves, often with
lobate margins; some have
serrated leaves or
entire leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous species are
marcescent
Marcescence is the withering and persistence of plant organs that normally are shed, and is a term most commonly applied to plant leaves. The underlying physiological mechanism is that trees transfer water and sap from the roots to the leaves ...
, not dropping dead leaves until spring. In spring, a single oak tree
produces both male and female flowers. The
staminate (male) flowers are arranged in
catkin
A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind- pollinated ( anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in '' Salix''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...
s, while the small
pistillate
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...
(female) flowers produce an
acorn
The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...
(a kind of
nut) contained in a
cupule. Each acorn usually contains one seed and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on the species. The acorns and leaves contain
tannic acid
Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity (Acid dissociation constant, pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as ...
, which helps to guard against fungi and insects. There are some 500 extant species of oaks.
Trees in the genus are often large and slow-growing; ''Q. alba'' can reach an age of 600 years, a diameter of and a height of .
The
Granit oak in Bulgaria, a ''Q. robur'' specimen, has an estimated age of 1,637 years, making it the oldest oak in Europe. The Wi'aaSal tree, a
live oak
Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to o ...
in the reservation of the
Pechanga Band of Indians, California, is at least 1,000 years old, and might be as much as 2,000 years old, which would make it the oldest oak in the US. Among the smallest oaks is ''
Q. acuta'', the Japanese evergreen oak. It forms a bush or small tree to a height of some .
File:Brockwell Oak (9).jpg, ''Quercus robur
''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
'' habit
File:Quercus lusitanica - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-253.jpg, Illustration of '' Q. lusitanica'' showing staminate (left) and pistillate
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...
flowers (right)
File:2021-04-22 18 54 32 Male flowers (catkins) on a White Oak within a wooded area in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg, Catkins of '' Q. alba'' containing the staminate or 'male' flowers
File:Летен дъб - цъфтеж, нови листа.JPG, New leaves and reddish pistillate or 'female' flowers of '' Q. robur''
Distribution

The genus ''Quercus'' is native to the Northern Hemisphere and includes
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
and
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
species extending from
cool temperate to
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
latitudes in the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America has the largest number of oak species, with approximately 160 species in Mexico, of which 109 are endemic, and about 90 in the United States. The second greatest area of oak diversity is China, with approximately 100 species.
In the Americas, ''Quercus'' is widespread from
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
and
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
in the south of Canada, south to
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and across the whole of the eastern United States. It is present in a small area of the west of
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
; in
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
it occurs mainly above .
The genus crossed the
isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...
when the northern and southern continents came together
and is present as one species, ''Q. humboldtii'', above 1,000 metres in Colombia.
The oaks of North America are of many sections (''Protobalanus'', ''Lobatae'', ''Ponticae'', ''Quercus'', and ''Virentes'') along with related genera such as ''Notholithocarpus''.
In the Old World, oaks of section ''Quercus'' extend across the whole of Europe including European Russia apart from the far north, and north Africa (north of the Sahara) from Morocco to Libya. In Mediterranean Europe, they are joined by oaks of the sections ''Cerris'' and ''Ilex'', which extend across Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan'','' while section ''Ponticae'' is endemic to the western Caucasus in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Oaks of section ''Cyclobalanopsis'' extend in a narrow belt along the Himalayas to cover mainland and island Southeast Asia as far as
Sumatra
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
,
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
, and
Palawan
Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
.
[ Finally, oaks of multiple sections (''Cyclobalanopsis'', ''Ilex'', ''Cerris'', ''Quercus'' and related genera like ''Lithocarpus'' and ''Castanopsis'') extend across east Asia including China, Korea, and Japan.]
Evolution
Fossil history
Potential records of ''Quercus'' have been reported from Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...
deposits in North America and East Asia. These are not considered definitive, as macrofossils older than the Paleogene
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
, and possibly from before the Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
are mostly poorly preserved without critical features for certain identification. Amongst the oldest unequivocal records of ''Quercus'' are pollen from Austria, dating to the Paleocene
The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
-Eocene boundary, around 55 million years ago. The oldest records of ''Quercus'' in North America are from Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, dating to the Middle Eocene, around 44 million years ago, with the oldest records in Asia from the Middle Eocene of Japan; both forms have affinities to the '' Cyclobalanopsis'' group.
File:Quercus hispanica 20170317.jpg, '' Quercus × hispanica'' leaf. Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
, Lleida
Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
, Spain
File:Quercus hiholensis acorn UWBM 56470-3 Pigg & Wehr 2002 Plt2 fig16.png, '' Quercus hiholensis'' acorn, Langhian
The Langhian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, an age or stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.65 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) during the Middle Miocene.GeoWhen (2007)
The Langhian was ...
age (Middle Miocene), Washington State, US (c. 15 mya)
File:Quercus kobatakei leaf (cropped).jpg, ''Quercus kobatakei'' leaf. Early Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
, Japan
File:Early Oligocene oak acorn from Bridge Creek Flora.jpg, Early Oligocene acorn, Oregon, US (33 mya)
External phylogeny
''Quercus'' forms part, or rather two parts, of the Quercoideae subfamily of the Fagaceae
The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...
, the beech family. Modern molecular phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
suggests the following relationships:
Internal phylogeny
Molecular techniques for phylogenetic analysis show that the genus ''Quercus'' consisted of Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
and New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
clades. The entire genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
of ''Quercus robur'' (the pedunculate oak) has been sequenced
In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succi ...
, revealing an array of mutation
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...
s that may underlie the evolution of longevity and disease resistance
Disease resistance is the ability to prevent or reduce the presence of diseases in otherwise susceptible hosts. It can arise from genetic or environmental factors, such as incomplete penetrance. Disease tolerance is different as it is the abilit ...
in oaks. In addition, hundreds of oak species have been compared (at RAD-seq loci), allowing a detailed phylogeny to be constructed. However, the high signal of introgressive hybridization (the transfer of genetic material by repeated backcrossing with hybrid offspring) in the genus has made it difficult to resolve an unambiguous, unitary history of oaks. The phylogeny from Hipp et al. 2019 is:
Taxonomy
Taxonomic history
The genus ''Quercus'' was circumscribed by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in the first edition of his 1753 ''Species Plantarum
' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...
''. He described 15 species within the new genus, providing type specimens for 10 of these, and giving names but no types for '' Q. cerris'', '' Q. coccifera'', '' Q. ilex'', '' Q. smilax'', and '' Q. suber''. He chose '' Q. robur'', the pedunculate oak, as the type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
for the genus.
A 2017 classification of ''Quercus'', based on multiple molecular phylogenetic studies, divided the genus into two subgenera
In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
and eight sections
Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
:
*Subgenus ''Quercus'' – the New World clade (or high-latitude clade), mostly native to North America
**Section ''Lobatae'' Loudon – North American red oaks
**Section ''Protobalanus'' (Trelease) O.Schwarz – North American intermediate oaks
**Section ''Ponticae'' Stef. – with a disjunct distribution
In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...
between western Eurasia
Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
and western North America
**Section ''Virentes'' Loudon – American southern live oaks
**Section ''Quercus'' – white oaks from North America and Eurasia
*Subgenus ''Cerris'' Oerst. – the Old World clade (or mid-latitude clade), exclusively native to Eurasia
**Section ''Cyclobalanopsis'' Oerst. – cycle-cup oaks of East Asia
**Section ''Cerris'' Dumort. – cerris oaks of subtropical and temperate Eurasia and North Africa
**Section ''Ilex'' Loudon – ilex oaks of tropical and subtropical Eurasia and North Africa
The subgenus division supports the evolutionary diversification of oaks among two distinct clades: the Old World clade (subgenus ''Cerris''), including oaks that diversified in Eurasia; and the New World clade (subgenus ''Quercus''), oaks that diversified mainly in the Americas.
Subgenus ''Quercus''
* Sect. ''Lobatae'' (synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
''Erythrobalanus''), the red oaks
''Red Oaks'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Joe Gangemi and Gregory Jacobs. The first season was released on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2015. On December 18, 2015, Amazon announced that the show would be returnin ...
of North America, Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and northern South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. Style
Style, or styles may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal
* ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film
* ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film
* '' ...
s are long; the acorns mature in 18 months and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. The actual nut is encased in a thin, clinging, papery skin. The leaves typically have sharp lobe tips, with spiny bristles at the lobe.[
* Sect. ''Protobalanus'', the canyon live oak and its relatives, in the southwestern ]United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and northwest Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. Styles are short; the acorns mature in 18 months and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. The leaves typically have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip.[
* Sect. ''Ponticae,'' a disjunct including just two species. Styles are short, and the acorns mature in 12 months. The leaves have large ]stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...
s, high secondary veins, and are highly toothed.[
* Sect. ''Virentes,'' the southern live oaks of the Americas. Styles are short, and the acorns mature in 12 months. The leaves are evergreen or subevergreen.][
* Sect. ''Quercus'' (synonyms ''Lepidobalanus'' and ''Leucobalanus''), the white oaks of ]Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
and North America. Trees or shrubs that produce nuts, specifically acorns, as fruits. Acorns mature in one year for annual trees and two years for biannual trees. Acorn is encapsulated by a spiny cupule as characterized by the family Fagaceae. Flowers in the ''Quercus'' genera produce one flower per node, with three or six styles, as well as three or six ovaries
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endocr ...
, respectively. The leaves mostly lack a bristle on their lobe tips, which are usually rounded. The type species is ''Quercus robur
''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
''.[
]
Subgenus ''Cerris''
The type species is ''Quercus cerris''.
* Sect. '' Cyclobalanopsis'', the ring-cupped oaks of eastern and southeastern Asia. These are evergreen trees growing tall. They are distinct from subgenus ''Quercus'' in that they have acorns with distinctive cups bearing concrescent rings of scales; they commonly also have densely clustered acorns, though this does not apply to all of the species. Species of ''Cyclobalanopsis'' are common in the evergreen subtropical laurel forest
Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and el ...
s, which extend from southern Japan, southern Korea, and Taiwan across southern China and northern Indochina to the eastern Himalayas, in association with trees of the genus ''Castanopsis
''Castanopsis'', commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. The Engli ...
'' and the laurel family (Lauraceae
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...
).[
* Sect. ''Cerris'', the Turkey oak and its relatives of Europe and Asia. Styles are long; acorns mature in 18 months and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn's shell is hairless. Its leaves typically have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip.][
* Sect. '']Ilex
''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen or ...
'', the Ilex oak and its relatives of Eurasia and northern Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. Styles are medium-long; acorns mature in 12–24 months, appearing hairy on the inside. The leaves are evergreen, with bristle-like extensions on the teeth.[
]
Ecology
Oaks are keystone species
A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. The concept was introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in main ...
in a wide range of habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to subtropical rainforest. They are important components of hardwood forests; some species grow in associations with members of the Ericaceae
The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...
in oak–heath forest An oak–heath forest is a plant community association and type of forest ecology. It is a deciduous forest type of well-drained, acidic soils, characterized by oaks (''Quercus'') and plants of the heath family (Ericaceae). It is commonly found in t ...
s. Several kinds of truffle
A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
s, including two well-known varieties – black Périgord truffle and the white Piedmont truffle – have symbiotic relationships with oak trees. Similarly, many other fungi, such as '' Ramaria flavosaponaria'', associate with oaks.
Oaks support more than 950 species of caterpillars, an important food source for many birds. Mature oak trees shed widely varying numbers of acorns (known collectively as mast) annually, with large quantities in mast years. This may be a predator satiation
Predator satiation (less commonly called predator saturation) is an anti-predator adaptation in which prey briefly occur at high population densities, reducing the probability of an individual organism being eaten.
When predators are flooded wit ...
strategy, increasing the chance that some acorns will survive to germination.
Animals including squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...
s and jays – Eurasian jay
The Eurasian jay (''Garrulus glandarius'') is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It has pinkish brown plumage with a black stripe on each side of a whitish throat, a bright blue panel on the upper wing and a black tail. The ...
s in the Old World, blue jay
The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations ar ...
s in North America – feed on acorns, and are important agents of seed dispersal
In spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.
Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...
as they carry the acorns away and bury many of them as food stores. However, some species of squirrel selectively excise the embryos from the acorns that they store, meaning that the food store lasts longer and that the acorns will never germinate.
Hybridisation
Interspecific hybridization is quite common among oaks, but usually between species within the same section only, and most common in the white oak group. White oaks cannot discriminate against pollination by other species in the same section. Because they are wind pollinated and have weak internal barriers to hybridization, hybridization produces functional seeds and fertile hybrid offspring. Ecological stresses, especially near habitat margins, can also cause a breakdown of mate recognition as well as a reduction of male function (pollen quantity and quality) in one parent species.
Frequent hybridization among oaks has consequences for oak populations around the world; most notably, hybridization has produced large populations of hybrids with much introgression
Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Introg ...
and the evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
of new species. Introgression has caused different species in the same populations to share up to 50% of their genetic information. As a result, genetic data often does not differentiate between clearly morphologically distinct species, but instead differentiates populations. The maintenance of particular loci for adaptation to ecological niches may explain the retention of species identity despite significant gene flow.
The Fagaceae
The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...
, or beech family, to which the oaks belong, is a slowly-evolving clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
compared to other angiosperm
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...
s, and the patterns of hybridization and introgression in ''Quercus'' pose a significant challenge to the concept of a species as a group of "actually or potentially interbreeding populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups." By this definition, many species of ''Quercus'' would be lumped together according to their geographic and ecological habitat, despite clear distinctions in morphology and genetic data.
Diseases and pests
Oaks are affected by a large number of pests and diseases. For instance, ''Q. robur'' and ''Q. petraea'' in Britain host 423 insect species. This diversity includes 106 macro-moths, 83 micro-moths, 67 beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s, 53 cynipoidea
The Cynipoidea are a moderate-sized hymenopteran superfamily that presently includes seven extant families and three extinct families, though others have been recognized in the past. The most familiar members of the group are phytophagous, espec ...
n wasps, 38 heteroptera
The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...
n bugs, 21 auchenorrhyncha
The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the o ...
n bugs, 17 sawflies
Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plant ...
, and 15 aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...
s. The insect numbers are seasonal: in spring, chewing insects such as caterpillars become numerous, followed by insects with sucking mouthparts such as aphids, then by leaf miner
A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which ...
s, and finally by gall wasps such as '' Neuroterus''. Several powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...
s affect oak species. In Europe, the species '' Erysiphe alphitoides'' is the most common. It reduces the ability of leaves to photosynthesize, and infected leaves are shed early.
Another significant threat, the oak processionary
The oak processionary (OPM) (''Thaumetopoea processionea'') is a moth whose caterpillars can be found in oak forests, where they feed on oak leaves, causing significant damage. They travel in nose-to-tail processions (hence their name), often ar ...
moth (''Thaumetopoea processionea''), has emerged in the UK since 2006. The caterpillars of this species defoliate the trees and are hazardous to human health; their bodies are covered with poisonous hairs which can cause rashes and respiratory problems. A little-understood disease of mature oaks, acute oak decline
Acute oak decline (AOD) is a disease that infects oak trees originally described in the UK. It mainly affects mature oak trees of over 50 years old of both Britain's native oak species: the pedunculate oak (''Quercus robur'') and the sessile oak ...
, has affected the UK since 2009.
In California, goldspotted oak borer ('' Agrilus auroguttatus'') has destroyed many oak trees, while sudden oak death, caused by the oomycete
The Oomycetes (), or Oomycota, form a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms within the Stramenopiles. They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction o ...
pathogen ''Phytophthora ramorum
''Phytophthora ramorum'' is the oomycete known to cause the disease sudden oak death (SOD). The disease kills oak and other species of trees and has had devastating effects on the oak populations in California and Oregon, as well as being present ...
'', has devastated oaks in California and Oregon, and is present in Europe. Japanese oak wilt, caused by the fungus '' Raffaelea quercivora'', has rapidly killed trees across Japan.
Gall communities
Many galls are found on oak leaves, buds, flowers, and roots. Examples are oak artichoke gall, oak marble gall, oak apple
An oak apple or oak gall is a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the famil ...
gall, knopper gall, and Neurotus quercus-baccarum, spangle gall. These galls are the handiwork of tiny wasps from the Cynipidae. In a complex ecological relationship, these gall wasps become hosts to parasitoid wasps—primarily from the order Chalcidoidea—which lay their larvae inside the gall wasps, ultimately leading to the hosts' demise. Additionally, inquilines live Commensalism, commensally within the galls without harming the gall wasps.
File:Gallrazorback.jpg, Oak apple gall on ''Quercus garryana''
File:Oak apples on oak leaf and in cross section.JPG, Oak apples on oak leaf
File:Biorhiza pallida male.jpg, ''Biorhiza pallida'' male, the cause of oak apple galls
Toxicity
The leaves and acorns of oaks are poisonous to livestock, including cattle and horses, if eaten in large amounts, due to the toxin tannic acid
Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity (Acid dissociation constant, pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as ...
, which causes kidney damage and gastroenteritis. An exception is the domestic pig, which, under the right conditions, may be fed entirely on acorns, and has traditionally been pastured in oak woodlands (such as the Spanish ''dehesa (pastoral management), dehesa'' and the English system of pannage). Humans can eat acorns after leaching (chemistry), leaching out the tannins in water.
Uses
Timber
Oak timber is a strong and hard wood with many uses, such as for furniture, floors, building frames, and Wood veneer, veneers. The wood of ''Quercus cerris'' (the Turkey oak) has better mechanical properties than those of the white oaks ''Quercus petraea, Q. petraea'' and '' Q. robur''; the heartwood and sapwood have similar strength of materials, mechanical properties. Of the North American red oaks, the northern red oak, ''Quercus rubra'', is highly prized for lumber.
The wood is resistant to insect and fungal attack.
Wood from ''Q. robur'' and ''Q. petraea'' was used in Europe for shipbuilding, especially of naval man-of-war, men of war, until the 19th century. In hill states of India such as Uttarakhand, along with being used for fuelwood and timber, oak wood is used for agricultural implements, while the leaves serve as fodder for livestock during lean periods.
Other traditional products
Oak bark, with its high tannin content, was traditionally used in the Old World for Tanning (leather), tanning leather. Oak gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...
s were used for centuries as a main ingredient in iron gall ink for manuscripts, harvested at a specific time of year. In Korea, sawtooth oak bark is used to make Roof shingle, shingles for Traditional Korean roof construction, traditional roof construction. The dried bark of the white oak was used in traditional medicine, traditional medical preparations; its tannic acid content made it astringent and antiseptic. Acorns have been ground to make a flour, and roasted for acorn coffee.
Culinary
Barrel (storage), Barrels for Aging barrel, aging wines, sherry
Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
, and spirits such as brandy and Scotch whisky are made from oak, with single barrel whiskey, single barrel malt whiskies fetching a premium.[Piggott, John R.; Conner, John M. "Whiskies." Fermented beverage production. Boston, Massachusetts: Springer, 2003. 239–262.] The use of oak (wine), oak in wine adds a range of flavours. Oak barrels, which may be charred before use, contribute to their contents' colour, taste, and aroma, imparting a desirable oaky vanillin flavour. A dilemma for wine producers is to choose between French and American oakwoods. French oaks (''Quercus robur'', ''Q. petraea'') give greater refinement and are chosen for the best, most expensive wines. American oak contributes greater texture and resistance to ageing, but produces a more powerful bouquet.
Oak wood chips are used for smoking (cooking), smoking foods such as fish, meat, and cheese.
In Japan, Children's Day is celebrated with rice cakes, filled with a sweet red bean paste, and wrapped in a oak leaf.
The bark of the cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...
is used to produce cork stoppers for wine bottles. This species grows around the Mediterranean Sea; Portugal, Spain, Algeria, and Morocco produce most of the world's supply.
Acorns of various oak species have been used as food for millennia, in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and among the native peoples of North America. In North Africa, acorns have been pressed to make acorn oil: the cooking oil, oil content can be as high as 30%. Oaks have also been used as fodder, both leaves and acorns being fed to livestock such as pigs. Given their high tannin content, acorns have often been leached to remove tannins before use as fodder.
File:Sherry cellar, Solera system, 2003.jpg, Sherry maturing in barrel (storage), oak barrels
File:Cork oak trunk section.jpg, A cross section of the trunk of a cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...
, ''Quercus suber'', showing the thick spongy bark used for making wine bottle corks
File:Kashiwa-mochi.jpg, Kashiwa-mochi rice cake wrapped in oak leaf, Japan
Conservation
An estimated 31% of the world's oak species are threatened with extinction, while 41% of oak species are considered to be of conservation status, conservation concern. The countries with the highest numbers of threatened oak species (as of 2020) are China with 36 species, Mexico with 32 species, Vietnam with 20 species, and the US with 16 species. Leading causes are climate change and Invasive species, invasive pests in the US, and deforestation and urbanization in Asia.
In the Himalayan region of India, oak forests are being invaded by pine trees due to global warming. The associated pine forest species may cross frontiers and integrate into the oak forests.
Over the past 200 years, large areas of oak forest in the highlands of Mexico, Central America, and the northern Andes have been cleared for coffee plantations and cattle ranching. There is a continuing threat to these forests from exploitation for timber, fuelwood, and charcoal. In the US, entire oak ecosystems have declined due to a combination of factors thought to include fire suppression, increased consumption of acorns by growing mammal populations, herbivory of seedlings, and introduced pests. However, disturbance-tolerant oaks may have benefited from grazers like American bison, bison, and suffered when the bison were removed following European colonization of the Americas, European colonization.
Culture
Symbols
The oak is a widely used symbol of strength and endurance. It is the national tree
This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more trees as their national trees. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. Additionally, the list includes trees that we ...
of many countries, including the US, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (Quercus alnifolia, golden oak), Estonia, France, Germany, Moldova, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Wales. Ireland's fifth-largest city, Derry, is named for the tree, from . Oak branches are displayed on some German coins, both of the former Deutsche Mark and the euro.
Oak leaves symbolize military rank, rank in armed forces including those United States Armed Forces, of the United States. Arrangements of oak leaves, acorns, and sprigs indicate different branches of the United States Navy staff corps officers. The oak tree is used as a symbol by several political parties and organisations. It is the symbol of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, and formerly of the Progressive Democrats in Republic of Ireland, Ireland.[Coalition Government 1989 To 1992]
progressivedemocrats.ie
Religion
The prehistoric Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European tribes worshipped the oak and connected it with a thunder god, and this tradition descended to many classical cultures. In Greek mythology, the oak is the tree sacred to Zeus, king of the gods. In Zeus's oracle in Dodona, Epirus, the sacred oak was the centerpiece of the precinct, and the priests would divination, divine the pronouncements of the god by interpreting the rustling of the oak's leaves. Mortals who destroyed such trees were said to be punished by the gods since the ancient Greeks believed beings called hamadryads inhabited them. In Norse mythology, Norse and Baltic mythology, the oak was sacred to the thunder gods Thor and Perkūnas respectively. In Celtic polytheism, the name druid, Celtic priest, is connected to Proto-Indo-European ''*deru'', meaning oak or tree. Veneration of the oak survives in Serbian Orthodox Church tradition. Christmas celebrations include the Badnjak (Serbian), ''badnjak'', a branch taken from a young and straight oak ceremonially felled early on Christmas Eve morning, similar to a yule log.
History
: :Individual oak trees, ''Individual oak trees''
Several oak trees hold cultural importance; such as the Royal Oak (tree), Royal Oak in Britain, the Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an enormous Quercus alba, white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hill in Hartford, Connecticut, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. Connecticut colonists hid Connecticut Constitutional Histor ...
in the United States, and the Guernica oak in the Basque Country. "The Proscribed Royalist, 1651", a famous painting by John Everett Millais, depicts a Royalist hiding in an oak tree while fleeing from Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell's forces.
In the Roman Republic, a crown of oak leaves was given to those who had saved the life of a citizen in battle; it was called the "Civic Crown". In his 17th century poem ''The Garden (poem), The Garden'', Andrew Marvell critiqued the desire to be awarded such a leafy crown: "How vainly men themselves amaze / To win the Arecaceae, palm, the oak, or Laurel wreath, bays; And their uncessant labors see / Crowned from some single herb or tree, ..."
Notes
References
Further reading
* Byfield, Liz (1990) ''An Oak Tree'', Collins Book Bus, London: Collins Educational,
* Roger Phillips (photographer), Phillips, Roger (1979). ''Trees of North America and Europe'', Random House, New York .
* Logan, William B. (2005) ''Oak: The Frame of Civilization'', New York; London: W. W. Norton,
* Paterson, R. T. (1993). ''Use of Trees by Livestock'', 5: ''Quercus'', Chatham: Natural Resources Institute,
* Royston, Angela (2000). ''Life Cycle of an Oak Tree'', Heinemann first library, Oxford: Heinemann Library,
* Savage, Stephen (1994). ''Oak Tree'', Observing nature series, Hove: Wayland,
* Arthur Tansley, Tansley, Arthur G. (1952). ''Oaks and Oak Woods'', Field study books, London: Methuen. .
* Marek Żukow-Karczewski, Żukow-Karczewski, Marek (1988). "Dąb – król polskich drzew" ("Oak – the king of the Polish trees"), ''AURA: A Monthly for the Protection and Shaping of Human Environment'', 9, 20–21.
External links
''Flora of China'' – ''Cyclobalanopsis''
Oak diseases
Flora Europaea: ''Quercus''
Common Oaks of Florida
Oaks of the world
The Global Trees Campaign
The Red List of Oaks and Global Survey of Threatened Quercus
*
{{authority control
Quercus,
Quercus taxa by common names, 01
Pseudocereals
Wood
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus