''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of oak tree native to most of Europe and into

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The sessile oak is the national tree of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and an unofficial emblem in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Description

The sessile oak is a large

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 ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

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 A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are long and broad, evenly lobed with five to six lobes on each side and a petiole. The male

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are grouped into

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, produced in the spring. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is 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 ...

long and broad, which matures in about six months. File:Divljanski stari hrast.jpg, Old sacred oak ( zapis) in Divljana,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

File:Quercus petraea 02.jpg, Shoot with leaves and acorn File:Eglinton fish pond island inosculated Q. petraea.JPG, An inosculated tree File:Sessile Oak forest.jpg, A sessile oak in a forest

Comparison with pedunculate oak

Significant botanical differences from pedunculate oak (''Q. robur'') include the stalked leaves, and the stalkless (sessile)

s 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 In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''petraea'' means "of rocky places". ''Q. robur'', 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.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, in Chapter II of '' On the Origin of Species'', noted that the sessile and pedunculate oaks had been described as both distinct species and mere varieties depending on the authority consulted.

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 Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

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.

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, veneers and

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

staves. Rougher material is used for fence construction, roof beams and specialist building work. The wood also has antimicrobial properties. It is also a good fuel wood. During autumns with good acorn crops (the mast years), animals are traditionally grazed under the trees to fatten them.

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. However, the Crown Estate propagated a sapling from the original tree and planted it in Windsor Great Park. A further five saplings have been cloned from the Pontfadog Oak, three of which will be planted at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, with the other two going to sites near Pontfadog; one at Chirk Castle and the other at Erddig, as part of a woodland memorial to those who died during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic.

Fuck Tree

The Fuck Tree is a sessile oak tree located in Hampstead Heath, north

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

, with the Fuck Tree being the most famous tree in the heath. The Fuck Tree has gained recognition in LGBTQ+ art and culture, including the 2017 art film ''Fuck Tree'' by Liz Rosenfeld and the 2023 art exhibition ''Soft Ground'' at the Gasworks Gallery by Trevor Yeung.

References

External links

Quercus petraea
Royal Horticultural Society
''Quercus petraea''
– distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)
Flora Europaea: ''Quercus petraea''
* Bean, W. J. (1976). ''Trees and shrubs hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., revised. John Murray. * Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. HarperCollins . *

Den virtuella floran – Distribution
* * {{Authority control petraea Flora of Europe Plants described in 1777 Trees of mild maritime climate Trees of humid continental climate Trees of Mediterranean climate Trees of Europe Trees of Western Asia Environment of Cornwall National symbols of the Republic of Ireland