Large-fruited oak. The common oak tree is a green symbol of wisdom

What does English oak look like?
Spreading
Climate and soil
Interesting features of wood
Using wood
Construction
Industry
Leaves and acorns
Medicine
When to collect material
Interesting facts about oak

Common oak (lat. " Quercus robur") represents the genus Oaks of the Beech family. It is also pedunculate oak, summer, English. The tree's homeland is the forests of southern Russia and eastern Europe.

What does English oak look like?

The common oak is a deciduous tree, its height reaches 50 meters, the girth of the trunk is up to 2 meters. It grows upward for an average of 200 years, then expands for the rest of its life. Using this feature, you can determine approximately how old the tree is. The lifespan of individual individuals is up to 500, or even more years.

The oldest representative of the species grows in Lithuania near the village of Stemluzh. Scientists were able to determine the approximate age of the centenarian - about 2000 years, in historical documents there is a description of it. The Stemluzh oak tree still blooms and periodically bears fruit.

The oak root system has a main core that goes deep into the ground, due to which the tree receives reliable support and high vitality. Over time, lateral root processes of the first, second, third, etc., form and develop. order, the system takes on a spherical shape. The longest stem of a mature tree can be located 20 meters above the ground or deeper.

A young plant has an even light gray bark with a smooth surface; with age it darkens and thickens up to 10 cm by the end of the oak’s life, becoming covered with deep cracks.

The crown has a pyramidal structure, wide, spreading. A tree with strong branches growing alternately on a powerful trunk.

Everyone knows what an oak leaf looks like in Russia and in the world: lobed with a characteristic jagged-rounded edge of a simple shape. The veins protrude slightly from the main plane.

Oak fruits are acorns. They ripen by mid-autumn in September-October. They have a round, elongated shape, brownish-brown, sometimes yellowish in color. The fruit is recessed into a flat plush on a short stalk.

The buds are brown, scaly, ovoid with a pointed tip. The scales have a ciliated edge.

Oak fruits are set in the spring with the arrival of warmth in April-May. Flowering occurs at the same time as the leaves bloom. Flowers of different sexes:

Women's reddish tint with a short leg;
Men's have the appearance of yellow-green dangling earrings.

There are 2 types of wood: early and late. The early species blooms leaves in April-May, sheds them in mid-autumn until October. Flowering occurs at the same time. The late representative becomes active 2-3 weeks later than its counterpart; often the leaves remain on the branches throughout the winter and fall off in the spring with the swelling of new buds. Their appearance is practically no different.

The common oak bears fruit every 4-5 years after reaching an age of over 50 years.

Spreading

The plant does not like frost, so northern latitudes practically never occurs. It forms forests in the middle and southern regions of Russia from the Urals to the Caucasus, where its homeland is located. Under natural conditions it grows in Western Europe, Western Asia and Africa.

Humans spread the species in different parts of the Earth, but in unusual climatic conditions the tree develops worse: the trunk grows slowly, the height does not exceed 20 meters, it bears fruit unstably, and oak wood is often no different high quality. Oak trees are used to create interesting park compositions, decorate alleys and populate forest belts.

Under normal conditions, the common species grows in river valleys and forms mixed forests. The breed favorably coexists with representatives of coniferous and deciduous trees: pine, spruce, hornbeam, birch, beech, ash, maple.

Free-standing individuals are often found.

Climate and soil

Family loves temperate climate: normal humidity, average temperatures. Mixed forests Russia is the optimal habitat for oak trees.

For a comfortable life, soils rich in minerals and organic fertilizers are required. Wet and deep gray loams of forests are optimal for tree development. In such areas, the life expectancy of the oak is maximum; the trunk grows actively and remains alive for a long time.

Useful composition of wood and fruits

Oak wood and leaves are a storehouse of various microelements used by humans in various branches of medicine and industry:

Up to 20% of wood and leaves are tannins; they are used in medicine and the leather industry.
Gallic and egallic organic acids;
Carbohydrates and sugars, in particular pentosans (up to 14%);
Flavonoids;
Microelements (in descending order): K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Mg, Cu, Zn, Al, Cr, Ba, V, Se, Ni, Sr, Pb, B, Ca, Se, Sr.

Acorns, as fruits for reproduction, also possess a number of substances that are useful and vital for development:

Starches;
Proteins;
Carbohydrates (sugars);
Saturated oils up to 5% of the total volume.

Oak forests serve as a source of unique wood, widely used in various industries due to its unique beneficial properties:

Elasticity.
High strength and density;
High tensile strength in bending (95 MPa), compression (50 MPa), tensile strength (118 MPa);
The treated trunk retains its technical specifications in high humidity and under water;
Low shrinkage coefficient without cracking;
Well preserved in air;
The service life of structures and products reaches 100 years with proper care.

Using wood

A person uses all parts of a petiolate tree - leaves, trunk, acorns, buds. Each material has found application in different sectors of our life.

Construction

The oak trunk is the source durable wood, which is used for the manufacture of building structures and products:

Solid board;
Parquet;
Boards for covering walls and ceilings;
Elements of window frames;
Doors.

The material is durable, abrasion resistant, hard. The age of the oak directly affects the quality of the raw material: the older the plant, the stronger and more valuable the wood. Its color is uniform, its interesting texture and cut pattern look attractive and calm. Thanks to this quality, the material has found application in the furniture industry and the creation of interior items.

Industry

Use of wood common oak has become widespread in the manufacture of components for:

Shipbuilding;
Mining industry;
Hydraulic structures;
Production of barrels for winemaking;
Horse harnesses, carts, wheels, etc.

The trunk of an adult plant serves as raw material for efficient fuel.

Leaves and acorns

When flowering begins, bees pollinate the trees, collect pollen and nectar, from which valuable honey is obtained.

Acorns from the forest serve as food for wild boars and domestic pigs. The high nutritional value of the fruit is also suitable for humans: the mature material is dried, ground into flour and used for baking. And acorns processed in a special way are added to ground chicory - it turns out healthy drink, replacing coffee.

Leaves on young branches brought from the oak forest are tied into brooms that rival birch brooms - they are just as good in a bathhouse.

Medicine

Scientific information about the beneficial substances and healing properties of wood allows the material to be used as an independent or accompanying treatment for many diseases of various types.

The description of tannins as an astringent and anti-inflammatory agent has existed for centuries. The active components are contained in the bark. The drugs are prescribed for pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract and food poisoning, for problems with the bladder and kidneys.

A decoction of bark and leaves is used externally. Tannins in their composition help when a violation occurs skin: wounds, abrasions, cuts, eczema, ulcers. In addition, decoctions and infusions are prescribed for gargling the throat and pharynx for acute respiratory viral infections and sore throats.

When prescribing concomitant herbal medicine, the doctor takes into account the characteristics of the main treatment, the course of the disease and the condition of the body. By combining factors, the specialist determines how long and in what form to use natural remedies. Self-treatment can only be of a preventive nature.

When to collect material

During the life and growth of a tree, the trunk acquires greater strength and density, and the material becomes valuable, so individuals of suitable size are selected for felling.

The bark is harvested in the month of sap flow, usually in April-May. It is dried in the open air, avoiding waterlogging.

Acorns for planting are collected in the fall, when the fruits reach their maturity. They are placed in artificial hibernation in the refrigerator or cellar until spring, after which they are germinated and placed in the ground. You can collect them in the first or second month of spring, when the snow has just melted and the acorn has not had time to take root.

It would seem that a tree is like a tree, but the species of the oak family is not so simple. Some interesting facts from the life of a stately plant.

The breed is so diverse that there are about 600 representatives of the oak fraternity around the world. Many of them are similar to each other and can only be distinguished by advanced biologists.
80 years is a serious period, especially for a person’s life. And the eightieth anniversary of marriage is called an “oak” wedding.
There are two ways to determine how old an oak tree is: count the number of rings on the cut of the trunk or measure the circumference of the trunk in centimeters and derive the radius using the formula (circumference/2π)/2. New rings appear every year, expanding by 2-3 mm, based on this, we divide the resulting radius by 2-3 mm.

Oak charcoal has a significant burning time, but flammable material does not hold heat well, and powerful draft is required to maintain the process.
Expensive construction and finishing material- bog oak. Wood enters water artificially or naturally for a long period of time (up to 100 years), a significant increase in the strength of the raw material occurs and it acquires a black color.
For propagation, the plant in most cases uses small acorns rather than root shoots.
Oak forests create optimal living conditions for many representatives of flora and fauna.
Interesting sounds of oak can be heard: musician Bartholomaus Traubeck created a unique record using nanotechnology.

Forests with oaks have healing power. There is evidence that the leaves and bark secrete special phytoncides that relieve headaches and calm the nervous system.
The species has high electrical conductivity - oaks are more likely than other trees to be struck by lightning.
The lifespan of oak products can be several thousand years: in the English county of Norfolk, the Bronze Age monument Seahenge, created in the 21st century, was discovered. BC

Family: beech (Fagaceae).

Homeland

The oak tree can most often be found in regions of the Northern Hemisphere with a temperate climate. The southern limit of its habitat is the tropical highlands.

Form: tree or shrub.

Description

The oak plant is a powerful, tall, deciduous plant, less often with a voluminous lush plant. Oak leaves are leathery, in evergreen species they remain on the tree for several years, in other species they fall off every year or gradually dry out and decay and remain on the branches. The leaves are lobed; some evergreen species have entire leaves. The flowers are small, male and female, produced on the same plant. Male flowers are standing or long pendant earrings, female flowers are small bunches or also earrings. Most oak tree species make up a significant portion of mixed forests and are a source of valuable timber. As a tree, oak lives extremely long - three hundred to four hundred years; individual specimens are known to be up to two thousand years old. The oak tree generally grows in height only during the first hundred years, but its growth in thickness does not stop throughout its life. Oak fruits are acorns, characteristic of the entire beech family. An acorn is a dry single-seeded fruit, the hard pericarp of which is enclosed in a kind of cup - a plus. or beech fruits usually contain two or three acorns in a cluster; oak fruits differ in that there is only one acorn in a cluster. Oak is resistant to unfavorable conditions, durable, and at the same time - it is a very decorative tree. Oak is widely used in landscaping thanks to these qualities.

White oak (Q. alba) - large tree up to 30 meters high with a spreading crown. The bark is gray, covered with shallow cracks. Oak leaves have an oblong-oval shape, quite large in size, up to 25 centimeters. In spring, the leaves have a bright red color, in summer they become bright green, the underside of the leaf becomes matte white. In autumn, the color of the leaves varies from burgundy to deep purple. White oak is native to eastern North America. Drought-resistant, but not frost-resistant enough. It is not picky about the level of soil moisture; white oak also tolerates saline soils well. Grows quite quickly, short terms gains impressive heights. Thanks to rapid growth and its spectacular appearance, white oak is often used for decorative cultivation.

Red oak, or northern oak (Q. rubra / Q. borealis) - a tall, up to 25 meters, tree with a dense crown, covered with smooth thin bark. Oak leaves are large with pointed blades. Red oak gets its name from the reddish-colored foliage in spring and fall before falling. Distributed in North America. Frost-resistant. It is not picky about soils, tolerates even acidic soils, but does not tolerate calcareous soils. Resistant to diseases and pests, tolerates air pollution well. Due to the listed qualities, red oak is actively used in landscaping.

Swamp oak (Q. palustris Muenchh) - a slender tree up to 25 meters high. It differs from most of its relatives in its pyramidal crown. The bark is smooth, greenish-brown. The leaves are bright green with deeply cut, pointed lobes. The plant's homeland is North America. Oak grows on wet soils along the shores of lakes and swamps, which is where it got its name.

Mongolian oak (Q. mongolica Fisch) - tall, up to 30 meters, tree. The oak has a spherical, densely leafy crown. The leaves are dense, oblong or ovoid in shape with short rounded lobes. Mongolian oak grows in the southern regions Eastern Siberia And Far East. Frost-resistant. Grows slower than North American species.

Willow oak (Q. phellos) is a beautiful deciduous plant. The oak has a wide, rounded crown and a slender trunk. It is distinguished by long narrow leaves reminiscent of willow. Frost-resistant, undemanding to soil. Photophilous.

Large-fruited oak (Q. macrocarpa) - a tree with a spreading crown and a thick trunk. Reaches 30 meters in height. The trunk is covered with light brown, cracking bark. The leaves are dark green, oblong, lobed. Oak is moisture-loving and frost-resistant.

(Q. ilex) is an evergreen tall plant. The oak reaches a height of 25 meters. It has a smooth dark gray trunk and a spreading dense crown. It is distinguished by dense, leathery leaves of small size (up to 8 cm). It grows on dry rocky soils in warm regions - southern Europe, northern Africa, the Mediterranean. However, it tolerates frosts down to -20°C without consequences. Shade-tolerant. Drought resistant. Tolerates haircuts well.

Sessile oak or sessile oak (Q. petraea Liebl) - a tree up to 30 m high with a tent-shaped crown. The leaves are large and lobed. The bark is smooth, in old plants it is covered with small cracks. Sessile oak is widespread in the Northern Crimea, the Northern Caucasus, as well as in western Ukraine, where it forms forests together with other deciduous trees. Photophilous.

Application

Many types of oak are decorative. Oak is used to create alleys, in single plantings, as well as in green areas, exclusively oak or in combination with other deciduous trees, for example, chestnut, plane tree, ginkgo, American ash. Small-leaved forms of holm oak are used to create. Red oak is used for noise protection.

Growing conditions

As a plant, oak is light-loving, frost-resistant, and drought-resistant. Most oak species are not demanding on soil composition - they can grow on acidic, dry, saline soils. Overmoistening is not advisable, although oak can withstand flooding for quite a long time. For the most part, oaks are light-loving, although some species tolerate lateral and complete shading.

Reproduction

Oak trees reproduce by acorns. Sowing with acorns is best done in the fall due to the fact that they are poorly stored in artificial conditions. Young trees are best planted in spring. Young shoots also show good results, provided that the tree is at least twenty years old. Decorative varieties They reproduce by grafting; oak species that are resistant to adverse conditions, for example, downy oak, are used as a rootstock.

Planting and care

Planting is preferable in open, well-lit areas. After the soil settles, the root collar of the tree should not be located below ground level. For planting, you need sand, peat and turf soil, as well as a drainage layer of crushed stone of at least twenty centimeters. After planting and in the next four days, watering is necessary. Despite the tree's drought resistance, in late spring and summer, in the absence of rain, regular watering is required. Young seedlings are much more sensitive to dry periods than adult plants. Before the onset of winter, it is necessary to mulch the tree trunk circle. Peat compost and wood chips are suitable for this purpose. The layer can be from ten to fifteen centimeters. After the cold weather subsides, the tree will need fertilizing with urea, ammonium nitrate and mullein. As necessary, dead branches are removed and the trunk is cleared of spiny shoots.

Diseases and pests

Oak trees are susceptible to various infectious wood diseases caused by fungi and bacteria. Necrosis of trunks and branches is dangerous for oak, due to which the tree can dry out in a short time. One of the most dangerous oak diseases is powdery mildew. The disease, noticed in an early stage, is easily stopped by spraying with a one percent solution of copper sulfate. Oak leaves are very attractive to gall midges, small insect, laying eggs inside the leaf. Grown larvae form galls, dense spherical growths yellow. This can significantly ruin not only the condition, but also appearance tree. Also dangerous for oak are leaf-eating insects and stem pests, such as large oak longhorned beetle, green oak leaf roller, and fruit cap moth. Damages caused by such organisms can stop growth and lead to the death of the plant.

Popular forms

Shapes of holm oak:

f. aureo-variegata - yellow-variegated form. Differs in foliage color;
f. microphylla - small-leaved form;
f. longifolia - long-leaved form;
f. angustifolia - narrow-leaved form;
f. crispa - form with curly leaves;
f. rotundifolia - round-leaved form;
f. integrifolia - whole-leaved form with lanceolate leaves without lobes;
f. Fordii is a form of Ford. It has a pyramidal crown and small narrow leaves.

Sessile oak forms:

f. pendula - weeping form, characterized by a drooping weeping crown;
f. purpurea - purple form, young leaves have a dark purple color, later changing to rich green;
f. variegata - variegated form, has white-variegated leaves.

Red oak shapes

F. aurea - golden form. The height of an adult tree does not exceed 15 meters. The leaves are large and have pointed edges. The color of the leaves is rich bronze.

Oak is the most important of the deciduous trees. Oak is a powerful and durable tree that can grow up to 2 meters thick in good soils. Of course, now such oaks are very rare. If an oak grows in a forest among other trees, it forms a tall, straight trunk with branches only in the upper half and a narrow crown, rounded at the top. Timber traders call this oak “grove oak” and value it because of the straightness of the trunk. If the oak tree grows freely or in very rare forest, the result is a “field oak”, with a short, thick and knotty trunk, with low-lying thick branches and a wide, almost spherical crown. But, no matter where the oak grows, everywhere it forms a very strong root, going deep into the ground. Therefore, the oak is stable and not afraid of windfall; in extreme cases, in a strong storm, it breaks, but does not twist out of the ground like spruce.

The oak crown is covered with rather large, dense, dark green leaves. The shape of oak leaves is, of course, known to everyone. Scientists call such leaves pinnate.
For all the beauty of its crown and foliage, the oak tree has very small, inconspicuous flowers that appear in the spring immediately after the buds open. Oak flowers have two genera: male - with stamens that produce pollen, and female - with pistils that produce fruit. Male flowers, with a simple perianth, are collected in 5-7 pieces on rather long hanging earrings. Females have 2-3 flowers on shorter earrings sticking up. After pollination, the well-known fruit, an acorn, sitting in a cup-shaped cup, develops rather slowly from the female flower. The oak tree begins to bear fruit very late, no earlier than 40-50 years old, and does not bear fruit every year: in good soil every 2-3 years, and in poor conditions much less often.

Oak is a light-loving species, although not to the same extent as pine or birch. Therefore, even if oak forms forests, these forests are not dense and at the same time contain an admixture of other species. In a dense forest where there is little light, oak cannot grow. Therefore, in spruce forests there is usually either no oak, or it is rare, and there is no oak undergrowth at all in a shady spruce forest.
If a spruce settles in an oak forest, we can assume that it will sooner or later displace the oak. That's why in northern forests he's not there. It was once abundant here too, but spruce gradually replaced it, and man cut down the last remnants. True, it must be said that spruce cannot displace oak as easily as birch - displacement of oak occurs slowly, over centuries. The point, however, is not that oak is light-loving. Oak requires soil quite rich in salts, especially limestone. Spruce, as is already known, causes podzolization of the soil and leaching of salts from it.

Leached soil is not suitable for oak. This is why oak has mainly disappeared in the northern part: almost everywhere the soils there are podzolized, at least in high watershed areas.

Water washing the soil at watersheds carries salts from it into the deeper layers of the soil. Descending into the depths, groundwater will sooner or later encounter a layer that does not allow water to pass through - most often clay. Then groundwater begins, albeit very slowly, to flow underground along the impermeable layer in the direction in which it is inclined. If the waterproof layer reaches river valley, we will see him on the slope of the valley. Veins or threads groundwater, reaching the slope of the valley, they will come to light in the form of springs and flow into the floodplain. The spring water spreads across the floodplain, and all those salts that are brought by the springs from high places will remain in the floodplain: there is nowhere for it to flow. Thus, floodplains are often rich in salts, sometimes whole layers can be found here, for example, calcareous salts,

It is no wonder that oak can grow in floodplains, even if there were no oak trees around the watersheds. In the old days, the floodplains were under a dense forest of oak, black alder and other species.
When plowing floodplains, during any excavations, they often come across whole trunks, often huge, of “black” oak. Oak contains a lot of tannins, and the soil of the floodplain contains a lot of iron salts. Tannins together with iron produce ink. This is why oak trunks are painted black, often all the way through. Such trunks are very heavy and durable. They are not afraid of rotting and are beautiful in decoration, so they are highly valued as carpentry material and are even exported abroad.

Black oak is a remnant of the times when our floodplains were under oak forest. It turns out that even in the north, black oak is often found, and in the middle and southern parts it can be found in any floodplain
The oak floodplain forests disappeared, apparently quite recently. There are still old people who remember such forests. As for the southern part of the country, there, of course, oak in the floodplains will not be a novelty; there are many of them on watersheds.

Thus, in the northern part there are almost no oak trees anymore. Rarely in remote places in a spruce forest do we come across a single tree, and we never see young oak trees at all. And it is very rare to find an oak forest - either in the form of a narrow strip in the floodplains, or in the form of small groves on watersheds where people have preserved them.
Oak - very valuable tree. It is valued for the hardness, durability and beauty of its wood. In the old days, houses and various household items were built from oak. Nowadays houses are not made from oak because of its high cost, but it is used for furniture, finishing lumber, stave for barrels etc.

Oak is a genus of plants that belongs to the beech family. There are two varieties: tree and shrub. Oak combines over 500 species. The habitat of the tree is presented Northern Hemisphere. The plant loves a temperate climate, so in the southern part of the planet it lives only in tropical highlands. The leaves and fruits are easily recognizable, partially edible and beneficial to health.

Maturation cycle

Oak is a tree that belongs to the evergreen plant species. Its crown may not change for several years. However, there are breeds whose leaves fall off with the onset of the first frost. The inflorescences of the tree are unisexual and small. It is worth noting that the crown cover is poorly developed during pollination. Only female flowers are strong; male catkins can fall off at the slightest breath of wind. It is noteworthy that oak is a tree whose pollination requires scales from two floors at once. The ripening of the fruit occurs in a roller, which is a small saucer. Subsequently, an acorn grows in it. Each breed has a different roller shape. In some species the acorns are elongated, in others they are round and small, in others they are nut-shaped. It is allowed to cross breeds, but this is likely to lead to a noticeable reduction in yield.

Extremely slow, but can live for hundreds of years. The root system is formed during the first year, then constantly develops. It is interesting that after cutting down an oak tree, powerful shoots sprout abundantly from the stump after some time. Oak is a tree that is not too picky about soil, so the soil can be anything. Natural reproduction occurs by acorns. The height of the oak tree varies up to 40-45 meters. The volume of the crown depends on the breed and climate.

Description of English oak

This type of plant is considered to be ordinary, since it is the most common in the European part of the planet. An oak tree sprouts from an acorn in just six months. Then, over the course of 20 years, its trunk, crown and roots are formed. reach a height of 50 meters. The trunk and branches are thick, powerful, and can withstand even heavy winds. Under moderate conditions and a developed root system, pedunculate oaks can live up to 1000 years. The bark is dark brown, thick. The leaves are oblong, grow in bunches, have from 3 to 7 blunt lobes with slight teeth. Such trees bloom in late spring. Common oaks love the sun very much, as they are a heat-resistant plant. Acorns are up to 3.5 cm long.

Features of downy oak

Most often, representatives of this breed are found in Transcaucasia, Crimea, as well as in Asia Minor and southern Europe. The trees reach only 8-10 meters in height. They are durable and heat resistant. It must be said that such oak species are significantly inferior to many other varieties in height. But they have a very winding thick trunk with spreading branches. Due to its small size and wide crown, the plant often resembles a large shrub from a distance.

The length of the leaves sometimes reaches 10 cm. They are variable in shape, grow in pairs, the blades are slightly pointed, dark green. Interestingly, the scales surrounding the acorn are very fluffy and soft.

Holm oak structure

The homeland of the tree is considered to be the Mediterranean and at the moment they are actively cultivated in North Africa and Europe. This is an evergreen plant whose height is 22-25 meters. The trunk is gray, smooth. The crown is spreading and dense. The leaves themselves are small, variable in shape, shiny, bright green in color, and leathery. The fruits ripen only in the second year. Oak grows rapidly, regardless of the climate. It is suitable for frosts down to -20 degrees and heat up to +40. Shade-tolerant, drought-resistant. The breed is called stone due to the fact that trees mainly grow on rocks in mountainous areas.

Distinctive features of red oak

Most often found on river banks. Does not like stagnant water in the soil. North America, in particular Canada, is considered its homeland. Such trees reach a height of 25 meters. Externally, the trunk is slender and smooth. The gray bark darkens and cracks over time. The oak crown is tent-shaped, green with yellowish tints closer to the ground. The leaves are large, sometimes their diameter reaches 25 cm. They have pointed blades. In autumn they turn red and fall off.

The fruits are small, spherical, no more than 2 cm in size. Ripe acorns are red, slightly brown. They ripen by the end of autumn; the first year is a poor harvest. Sustainable fruitfulness - up to 20 years. The tree is frost-resistant, calmly withstands strong winds and bright sun.

The plant is native to the east coast of North America. Large stands are found in forests with limestone-rich soil. Easily gets along with other oak species. It is important that the habitat is no higher than a kilometer above sea level. White oaks do not tolerate severe frosts. The height of an adult tree is about 30 meters. The crown is powerful, tent-shaped, formed by spreading branches. The color of the bark is gray. Old trees hardly crack, unlike petiolate trees. The leaves are oval, large (up to 22 cm), have up to 9 lobes. When they bloom they turn red, summer time- turn green, become purple closer to winter and fall off. The length of the acorn is up to 2.5 cm. The fruits are almost not covered by scales, so they often fall from the tree from strong gusts of wind.

Description of large-fruited oak

These trees are a North American species. They grow up to 30 meters high. The trunk is thick, brown in color, and severely cracks after several years from the moment of germination. The tent-shaped crown shape is achieved by powerful spreading branches.

The foliage is oblong, lobed, dark green in color, glistening in the sun and after rain. In autumn, the entire crown falls off, sometimes along with thin branches. It is worth noting the diameter of the leaves - 25 cm. The acorns are large, often reaching a length of 5 cm. They are oval in shape, covered by scales by a third. The large-fruited oak tree germinates at an average speed. The seeds are very moisture-loving and frost-resistant. Because of this, the breed is considered decorative.

Reserved chestnut oak

Widely distributed in Armenia, Iran and the north of the Caucasus. Cannot be cultivated. Most of the plantings are wild. In the mid-20th century, these trees were listed in the Red Book, so their felling is strictly prohibited. In the Hyrcanian Nature Reserve, they are monitored by specially trained people. Interestingly, the chestnut oak is a mixture of several wild species that grow primarily on ridge crests. Very light-loving, moderately resistant to frost, but does not tolerate drought.

When the tree blooms, it looks like a huge chestnut tree, 30 meters high. The trunk is quite slender and thin, the branches are spreading. Large chestnut-shaped leaves further emphasize the grandeur of the tent-shaped crown. Acorns swell up to 3 cm in length.

Swamp oak (pyramidal)

The southern regions of Canada are considered the birthplace of the breed. The tree reaches a height of about 25 meters. The crown from a distance resembles a pyramid. It is worth noting that the trunk practically merges with the leaves. The fact is that the bark of the swamp oak is completely green with an admixture of brown. The leaves are medium-sized and have deep notches and teeth. The crown color is green, but by autumn it turns purple. The fruits are spherical, sessile, about 1.5 cm in diameter. Oak seeds love water, just like mature trees. For additional moisture, the root system goes deep into the ground. The breed's habitat is marshy areas. The pyramidal oak grows quickly, but dies during prolonged frosts. Often large wild stands can be found on the shores of lakes and reservoirs.

Growing and Reproduction

Seedlings of English oak and large-fruited oak are very demanding of moisture and mineral wealth of the soil. That is why they quickly emerge in floodplains and deep forest loams. It is not recommended to sow oak seedlings in podzol soil. In such soil, the sprouts will quickly die, since the roots will not be able to gain a foothold due to the high acidity of the humus. It is advisable to sow acorns in late autumn. The fruits must be fresh. If you allow the acorns to dry out at the slightest level, the germination rate will decrease significantly. Planting depth is from 5 to 8 cm. Before growing an oak tree, it is important to know that the soil must be fertilized when sowing. To protect the sprouts from pests, it is necessary to cover them with spruce branches. It is also important to maintain a stable soil temperature (at least +2 degrees).

Many gardeners wonder how to grow an oak if other trees, due to circumstances, do not produce acorns. For this, you can use the breeding procedure. Green cuttings should be rooted in the first half of summer. It would not be a bad idea to use special heteroauxins as fertilizer. In addition, you need to know that cuttings of young trees germinate much faster and easier than cuttings of old ones (more than 20 years).

Peculiarities of oak pruning

Representatives of this family of trees love careful care, despite the fact that they are considered wild. The pruning procedure especially affects the yield. Oak is a tree with monopodial branching. Therefore, the main stem must continue to grow for the rest of the plant's life. In this case, the top cannot be limited in height. It always dominates other shoots. Branch pruning should be done every few years. The optimal period for removing branches would be early spring or late winter. It is important that the air temperature is not lower than -5 degrees. Otherwise, frostbite will appear at the cut sites. By summer, these branches will dry to the ground. If there are any large number, then the whole tree will die. Only new shoots, growths and diseased branches should be removed.

Useful and harmful properties of oak

For medicinal purposes, the bark and young branches of the tree, as well as acorns, and less often leaves are often used. The upper layers of the oak trunk contain a lot of resin, acids, sugar and pectin. The composition of the fruits includes: useful substances, such as organic oil, proteins, starch. Young leaves contain tanning components, dyes and pentosan groups. Thanks to this, effective anti-inflammatory drugs are produced from the tree and fruits.

The antispasmodic properties of oak are also well known. For example, it effectively helps with colitis, intestinal bleeding, gastritis, spleen and liver disease. Oak tinctures increase mental and physical activity, calm the central nervous system, and improve permeability vascular system. On the other hand, preparations based on this plant are contraindicated for children and patients suffering from constipation, hemorrhoids, nausea, and stomach ulcers.

Resource Usage

Oaks are mostly used in construction and cooking, as well as in light industry. Sawdust is used to make corks and furniture. The wood is optimal for surface ships, fortifications, machine building, and barrel making. The boards do not swell, do not burn well, and are durable, hard and dense. When the oak leaves bloom and the acorns ripen, it’s time for the cooks. In North America, the fruits of the tree are often added to coffee, candies and most gourmet dishes. In Asia, acorns are eaten fried with spices.

The common oak is a large, beautiful, powerful deciduous tree that reaches a height of about 48 meters and two meters in diameter. In some cases, the lifespan of this tree can reach an age of about a thousand years or more, and can evaporate more than 100 tons of liquid during a warm period of time, which is approximately 215 times its mass. There are approximately 20 varieties of oak known in Russia. The most popular variety is the English oak. Petiolate, like any other type of this tree, has a powerful root system that is highly branched.

The crown of the tree (pictured) is well developed and spreading. The bark of young shoots has a slightly olive-brown color; on an old tree it becomes gray-brown, with cracks. The leaves are oblong, obovate, narrowed below, pinnately lobed. The leaves may have a dark green color. They are quite shiny with bright veins. In spring it may bloom very late. Next we will look at more detailed description this tree.

Varieties: There are approximately 580 varieties in total. Ordinary or petiolate grows mainly on the northern slopes of mountainous areas.

Life expectancy is about 300 years. At first, the bark on the new tree becomes smooth and shiny, the leaves take on a pinnate appearance, reaching towards the rays of the sun. Then the tree becomes taller than all its neighbors and can spread its crown, while eclipsing everything nearby; its bark may crack and is no longer suitable as a medicinal plant. The duration is about several centuries. It happens that it reaches 1 thousand years or more.

Root system: roots spread underground over a distance of 5 meters.

Branches: The tree has a wide, irregular crown. Young branches acquire a greenish-brown color.

Height: approximately 38 meters.

Leaflets: The leaves are alternate, short-petioled with ears near the base.

Flowers: flowers are unisexual.

Flowering period: from May, when pinnate leaves can be seen.

Fruit: an acorn, which is surrounded by a plus.

Ripening period: September.

Collection period: the bark can be harvested by sap flow.

Oak fruits

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IN folk medicine Since ancient times, acorns, ground together with birch tar, have been prescribed as an excellent remedy for various tumors. In Rus', patients with a cold were forced to sweat, and then forced to dry themselves with canvas, which had only recently been boiled in oak peels. With this decoction you can get rid of inflammation in the body. And it was possible to steam in Rus' both with the help of birch and oak brooms, especially for those who suffered from various bodily infirmities.

According to scientists, acorns were originally the food of mankind. The very first bread was considered to be acorn cakes. Previously, acorns were dried in special ovens, then flour was made from them, and then bread was baked. There are a huge number of folk legends about the oak tree, under which large chests were buried. In Rus' - it was sacred tree, in ancient times they made statues of gods. People's meetings were usually organized under this tree. Twigs with leaves were like a symbol of glory. The leaves of this tree were depicted on Russian coins.

Flowering and spreading

Popular the following types oak:

early,
late.

The first of the above varieties may have leaves that bloom as early as April and winter period will fall off, and late ones may bloom two weeks later. It blooms from April to May, when it has small leaves. The flowers are unisexual, monoecious, and rather small. Male flowers are usually collected in an inflorescence located on a thin yellowish-greenish catkin, which looks like a hazel catkin. These earrings can hang in bunches from the branches and almost blend in color with the young small leaves.

Common oak leaves

The female flowers are sessile and quite tiny - about the size of a pinhead. Each of them has an appearance that is slightly reminiscent of a greenish grain, the top of which is raspberry-red in color. These flowers are located several at the ends of the thinnest stems. From any female flower to autumn period acorns may grow. After the flowering period, a small cup-shaped involucre may first grow, and then the acorn itself. The acorn may ripen by the end of September. Acorns do not like drought; if they lose moisture, they die.

Oak mainly grows in forest or steppe regions of Europe. Previously, almost 50% of European woodlands were based on oak forests, and today oak forests occupy approximately 3 percent of any European forests. Often spotted in the Far East, Crimea, the Caucasus, and so on. This tree is also widespread in the middle and southern territories the European part of our country. Oak doesn't like cold ones climatic conditions, but in the south it can develop much better. This tree grows and creates, together with other species, almost the entire territory. Oaks can be divided into summer, winter and evergreen. Of the three varieties that grow in Ukraine, the common one is more common and is important for industry.