sessile oak

''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial emblem in Wales and Cornwall.

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 flowers are grouped into catkins, 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 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) acorns 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". ''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, 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 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 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 pandemic.

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. 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.

See also

* '' Faux de Verzy''

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 .
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Den virtuella floran – Distribution
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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